One of the more unlikely, but incredible, stories from this past season has been rookie sensation Brock Purdy. However, the fairytale story has taken a sad twist.
Taken with the last pick in the NFL draft, giving him the unfortunate title of 'Mr. Irrelevant', Purdy took the reigns as starting quarterback for the last month of the season after season-ending injuries to both Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.
With both quarterbacks in the team in August, Purdy would have been a longshot to even make the 53-man roster, but found himself at the end of the season leading the San Francisco 49ers to Super Bowl contention. Purdy performed heroically, winning the last six games of the regular season games before defeating the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs.
But in the first quarter of their game with the Phialdelphia Eagles, Purdy was hit when attempting to throw downfield by pass-rusher Hassan Reddick, and went off to be evaluated.
Fourth-string quarterback Josh Johnson had to come in to replace him to, before he subsequently was ruled out of himself after suffering a concussion.
Purdy came back into the game with a severely injured elbow, and even attempted two passes in the game which they went on to lose, with the Eagles booking their trip to the Super Bowl.
It was first revealed that Purdy will be out for as long as six months, but another doctor has revealed it could be even longer. Speaking on the Dan Patrick Show, Dr. Mark Adickes said: "It looked to me like he needs Tommy John surgery, and that generally takes a year to come back from.
"It's not that I don't think he can come back and play well, but it might make that season not an option. Can he come back faster? I don't think he is throwing bombs six months after that surgery - it takes a long time to heal. Nine months that might be possible, but six months? I am unfamiliar with anyone coming back that quickly."
This will see the Niners have huge questions at the quarterback position next year, with Garoppolo set to become a free agent, and Lance the other quarterback on the roster.
Lance was the starting quarterback at the beginning of this past season, but struggled in his first full start, losing to the Chicago Bears before his season ended in game two.
The Niners gave up three first-round picks to select Lance in the 2021 draft class and will need to see strong performances out of him. If not, they may have a tough decision to make between him and Purdy.
