Sam Darnold

The San Francisco 49ers officially announced that Sam Darnold would be their QB2 heading into the 2023 season. The 49ers signed Darnold in the offseason and the former second-overall pick has quietly been earning the team's trust over the summer. His promotion will send former third-overall pick Trey Lance down to the QB3 spot on the roster, which could open him up for a potential trade as Week 1 approaches. Darnold has not found success in the league yet, but could perhaps benefit from playing under head coach Kyle Shanahan. 49ers backup quarterbacks have a habit of making starts during the regular season, so we could be seeing Darnold at some point in 2023. Starting quarterback Brock Purdy is coming off of a serious elbow injury, making it potentially even more important for the team to have a prepared backup in place in case of an injury to their starter.