It's taken a long time, and they kind of stumbled into him but, while quarterback Brock Purdy was not quite able to get the San Francisco 49ers over the line in Super Bowl 58, he has given the franchise something it has not had for a long time.

"It's a nice feeling, I know that, having stability at that position," 49ers general manager John Lynch said at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday.

"People forget last year was Brock's first full year as a starter. I think that leaves you feeling pretty good about his opportunity, with what we've already seen in his couple of years, in particular, last year, the first full year as a starter. He was coming off the injury. We're past that, and it just gives you a lot of confidence going in."

The 49ers have long since had one of the best rosters in the NFL, but quarterback tumult has been one of the defining features of the John Lynch-Kyle Shanahan era. During that period the Niners have suffered a succession of injuries at the game's most important position, with Jimmy Garoppolo only sporadically providing durable in his time as the starter.

Injuries to former third overall pick Trey Lance and then to Garoppolo — brought back for 2022 after failed attempts at a trade — famously gave Purdy, the final pick in that year's draft, the opportunity he seized with both hands. 

It looked as if the uncertainty at quarterback would continue when Purdy suffered a torn elbow ligament on the 49ers' first offensive series of the NFC Championship Game.

However, his recovery and subsequent superb campaign, which saw him set the franchise record for single-season passing yardage (4,280) while leading the league in touchdown percentage, passer rating, QBR and every yards per attempt metric, has erased all doubt and put the 49ers in a joyously unfamiliar position.

"Now it's like we're kind of building around him," added Lynch. "It gives you a foundation to build off, and that's a really good feeling, a settling feeling."

The 49ers don't have any backups under contract for 2024 as it stands, so they will need to address the lack of insurance behind Purdy. But, as Lynch articulated, Purdy's spectacular rise has provided them the freedom to operate knowing an area of the team that was a perennial question-mark is now manned by an ascending talent who shrugged off any concerns about his own durability in spectacular fashion.

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