The San Francisco 49ers might want to consider a third option when it comes to their starting quarterback in 2023, David Carr believes.

The San Francisco 49ers have got themselves a rather tricky situation to handle before the start of the 2023 NFL season, and it is arguably the biggest problem that you can have because it involves the most important position of them all.

Last season’s starter Trey Lance hasn’t shown any sort of promise during his early days in the National Football League, the man who took over for him after his injury last season Jimmy Garoppolo now finds himself a member of the Las Vegas Raiders, whilst the man who replaced him after his injury (and who performed the best out of all of them last season) Brock Purdy is suffering from an injury of his own that head coach Kyle Shanahan hasn’t been able to give a firm return date for.

And whilst there is still plenty of time for the season to start, the main debate seems to circle around whether it will be Lance, who the 49ers gave up a lot to go and draft back in 2021, or Purdy who will be their starter in 2023, assuming that Purdy is back in time.

But David Carr thinks that there might be a third option for them to explore.

San Francisco 49ers having to rely on Sam Darnold?

This offseason, to alleviate some of the problems at quarterback, the 49ers brought in former New York Jets and Carolina Panthers man Sam Darnold, presumably to be a backup behind Lance and Purdy, but according to Carr, it might well be that Darnold finds himself as the main man in the offense.

Video: David Carr thinks Sam Darnold could be a legitimate option for the San Francisco 49ers:

Sam Darnold set to solve the San Francisco 49ers’ problems?

If I were a 49ers fan, I wouldn’t exactly be holding my breath when it came to Carr’s assessment of things. With a pass completion rate under 60% and a quarterback rating under 80 (via ProFootballReference), he doesn’t exactly scream of someone that can help guide a team through a rough patch or to a Super Bowl.

Perhaps Carr is right that it’s just that Darnold hasn’t found the right system and that a change in location could help him out (see what Geno Smith did for the Seattle Seahawks last year for instance). But that is an awful lot of faith to be putting in the coaching staff to make it happen if they need to, because they don’t want to waste this roster for another year because of trouble at quarterback.