Brock Purdy ‘has earned the right to take the first snap’ for the San Francisco 49ers, says GM

San Francisco has three quarterbacks — Brock Purdy, Trey Lance and Sam Darnold — on its roster, but 49ers general manager John Lynch said one has a slight edge over the others in the race to start 2023.

“I think Brock has earned the right with the way he played that he’s probably the leader in the clubhouse on that,” Lynch said Monday at the NFL owners’ meetings in Phoenix. “If we were to line up, he’d probably take that first snap.”

Purdy underwent surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm earlier this month.

Purdy, 23, had an impressive rise from being the bottom pick in the 2022 NFL Draft to leading the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game.

After quarterbacks Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo were injured in the regular season, Purdy took over, leading the team to wins in each of the last five games.

Purdy and the 49ers then defeated the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs before falling to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC title game when the elbow injury occurred.

After fourth player Josh Johnson suffered a concussion against the Eagles, Purdy returned to action but was unable to throw the ball beyond a few yards.

In the regular season, Purdy completed 67.1 percent of his passes for 1,374 yards with 13 touchdown passes and four interceptions.

In the playoffs, he had a 65.1 percent completion rate while throwing for 569 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.

Lance, who entered the 2022 season as a starter, suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2.

Garoppolo signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency.

Earlier this month, retired two-time Super Bowl champion Ben Roethsliberger claimed he was approached by the 49ers, two years after he announced his retirement.