49ers' Kyle Shanahan Calls Brock Purdy the 'Real Deal' amid Elbow Injury Rehab

If San Francisco 49ers' fans were pleasantly surprised by Brock Purdy's rookie season, then they better start getting excited for the encore.

The second-year signal caller took over the reins of the offense after both Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo went down with injuries and went undefeated in the regular season, ultimately leading the franchise to an appearance in the NFC Championship Game.

Even as he works his way back from a torn UCL tear and offseason surgery, coach Kyle Shanahan isn't worried about his budding star and has already seen a lot of growth.

"I don't think anyone's back to where they were, exactly, last season. We're going through training camp, a lot of guys had more practices than him," Shanahan said. "He'll get there. He's doing some good things. We're not worried about Brock. Brock's the real deal, he knows how to play and we just have to have our team keep getting better and we'll keep getting better as we go."

A former "Mr. Irrelevant" as the final selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, Purdy has established himself as the front runner to land the starting gig once again this season over Lance, who was the team's No. 3 overall pick in 2021.

General manager John Lynch and Shanahan have both said that Purdy is the leader to remain the starter though they expect a tight competition between San Francisco's two young signal callers.

"Brock is the leader in the clubhouse, as we said, but it's open for competition," Lynch said back in May during an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio.

ESPN's Nick Wagoner and Jeremy Fowler reported that Purdy has been getting the starting reps in training camp so far over Lance and Sam Darnold.

Purdy finished his rookie regular season completing 67.1 percent of his passes for 1,374 yards, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions in seven games. He know has a full year of confidence and experience under his belt as he looks to lead the organization to an elusive Super Bowl title.