And yet, in the NFL, no game is ever truly pointless, as underdogs win games all the time, and backup quarterbacks have a way of shocking opponents in their first appearance of the season, even if they often lose that shine after a game or two.
Discussing his first chance to start a game since 2021 with reporters on Friday, Allen acknowledged the role Purdy has played in his preparation for the game, as he’s learned a lot from backing up “Mr. Irrelevant” over the years.
“Yeah, he’s unbelievable, the way he prepares. And you kind of have to to be able to execute this offense well. There are a lot of motions, a lot of shifts, a lot of things that go into it. And to be on top of all that, and you’ve seen him on the road doing all that with silent cadence and all that,” Allen told reporters.
“So there is a lot that goes into it. And his preparation kind of was, when I first got here last year, watching him do, I was like, ‘Okay, this is kind of how you have to study here.’ Because you can go other places and offenses aren’t as, aren’t as complex, aren’t as difficult so you can still study but you’re looking at the same things week-to-week. But in this offense, we really do a good job moving guys around and getting guys open. So there’s a lot of studying that goes into it. So watching him prepare and the way he does, I’ve definitely tried to model my preparation after him.”
With just 263 total passing attempts in his career so far since being drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL draft, Allen is somewhat of an unknown, with the Arkansas product spending time with five different organizations over the last nine years. Can Allen prove he deserves nine more years of backup duty with a win over the Packers? Maybe so, but even if he doesn’t, it sure sounds like his coach is comfortable with him under center, as the 49ers could have easily gone with Josh Dobbs instead if that wasn’t the case.
Kyle Shanahan is excited to see Brandon Allen run his 49ers offense
Discussing the decision to go with Allen over Dobbs in Week 12, Shanahan told reporters on Friday that he really likes what the Arkansas QB brings to the table, as he’s got all of the tools and the in-scheme 49ers experience to make it a game.
“Yeah, there’s not a big game-plan adjustment, this is something that we didn’t think would happen early in the week,” Shanahan noted. “We were fully preparing for Brock to go and getting a little surprised about this yesterday. Nothing has to change, so that’s a good deal for us.”
Would it have made more sense to give Dobbs the nod the Week 12? Potentially so, and if Purdy was heading to IR, they probably would have done just that in order to capitalize on the “Passtronaut’s” running abilities. But since that isn’t the case, maybe Shanahan believes sticking to what works makes more sense than trying to draw up a new offense, especially since Dobbs is still available for a package of his own.
