The AFC is stacked with contenders who have top-tier quarterbacks who will be the face of their respective franchises for years to come, but on the NFC side the balance of power could be decided for how things pan out for a team that doesn't even know who will be under center come Week 1 of the 2023 season.

No team in the NFL has dealt with, and overcome, more adversity at the quarterback position than the 49ers. Last year, the 49ers found themselves having to hand the keys to the offense to seventh-round rookie Brock Purdy after season-ending injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. 

Incredibly, Purdy thrived, winning seven straight starts across the regular-season and playoffs, only for a torn elbow ligament suffered in the NFC Championship Game loss to the Eagles to leave his recovery timeline as arguably the most important unknown in the conference this year.

By all accounts, Purdy is on the right track to recover from surgery to repair a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) in time for Week 1 of the new season.

But it is far from a sure thing Purdy will be ready to face the Steelers in the season opener and, as Evan Winter explained in his look at the top five preseason storylines, the 49ers still have plenty to consider even if Purdy is healthy in training camp.

If Purdy is healthy enough to participate in training camp, will the 49ers even play him during the preseason? Putting him on the field makes sense because he obviously hasn't been throwing much during the offseason. Allowing Purdy to shake the rust off, so to speak, would go a long way toward ramping him up for the season. I'm sure the 49ers would also like to see him in live action before putting him in a game that actually means something. Will the injury risk be worth it, though? The 49ers have to more figure out with Trey Lance and Sam Darnold, so it'd make sense to let them duke it out in August.

 The 49ers' offense was firing on all cylinders with Purdy as the starter. Over his five regular-season starts, the San Francisco offense ranked first in Expected Points Added per play.

Purdy has won the 49ers' trust, with general manager John Lynch calling him the "leader in the clubhouse" in a potential quarterback competition back in May.

Such a competition clearly does not exist. If Purdy is healthy, he will be the starter. Though the 49ers will maintain they have great belief in both Trey Lance and Sam Darnold, recent evidence suggests the offense will operate at its best to start the season with Purdy at the helm.

The 49ers won't want to fall behind the 8-ball in what they will hope will be a fight for the No. 1 seed with the likes of the Eagles and the Cowboys. As such, there is arguably no storyline more important to the 2023 NFC landscape than Purdy's recovery and how the 49ers manage it.

49ers have the best home-field advantage in the NFL

Road teams beware.

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