49ers news: Brandon Allen named Brock Purdy’s backup over Josh Dobbs

In a perfect world, we’ll never hear about a backup quarterback after today. If there’s a team in the NFL who knows all too well about playing multiple quarterbacks in a season, it’s the San Francisco 49ers.

Last year felt like the first year we went through an entire season without quarterback drama—and the starter was coming off a torn UCL injury. Brock Purdy received all the reps in this training camp with zero limitations. It may have been boring for some because there were no training camp stats to report, but that’s how it should be.

The only drama was whether who would back Purdy up. For much of training camp, Brandon Allen seemed to have a leg up on Josh Dobbs, who the Niners signed this offseason. Dobbs led a couple of long drives during the preseason, but he was erratic during practice, while Allen looked more in control.

After the first week of camp, Allen held a clear edge from my vantage point:

Allen kept the ball out of harm’s way, while Dobbs looked like he was pressing and going out of his way to make plays that were not within the structure of the offense.

On Thursday afternoon, Kyle Shanahan announced that Allen will be the QB2 heading into Week 1: “I told Brandon Allen, Brandon will be the 2, and Josh will be the 3 right now.”

During the preseason, Shanahan acknowledged that this could change based on who the upcoming opponent is to give the defense a better look. For example, the 49ers travel to Minnesota in Week 2 to take on the Vikings. Based on Dobbs’s description above and what he’s shown during his brief stint with San Francisco, he’s the best quarterback on the roster to emulate Sam Darnold.