On Saturday, August 9th, the 49ers were supposed to test their depth at Levi’s Stadium against the Broncos. What they found instead was a stark reminder of how quickly hope can evaporate in the NFL. The preseason matchup wasn’t about the scoreboard, but the 30-9 beat-down exposed more than just a gap in talent for HC Kyle Shanahan. It set the stage for a decisive, perhaps final chapter in the saga of a Niners QB, whose tenure in San Francisco was already tenuous at best.

Tanner Mordecai was never meant to ease into the depth chart in San Fran. An undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin, he spent the entire ‘24 season in the 49ers’ orbit. Waived, re-signed, shuffled off the practice squad, then called back again, Mordecai seemed to always be on the wrong side of the bubble. Even this August, he was waived and re-signed a few days later. Coaches often cite the ‘next man up’ mantra in the league, but Mordecai’s roster spot was less a promotion and more a function of roster math. With injuries mounting and arms in short supply, Kyle Shanahan needed Mordecai to eat preseason snaps, or so the plan went…

In the afternoon of Monday, August 11, Cam Inman dropped the list, naming it “49ers moves.” He didn’t drop it. It’s official. But he summed it up for the Faithful on his X post.  ‘Activated off PUP’: OT Andre Dillard | ‘Signed’: RB Jeff Wilson Jr. and DE Trevis Gipson | ‘Waived again’: QB Tanner Mordecai | ‘Placed on IR’: RB Ameer Abdullah (ribs). And there it was, Tan making the waivers again! But is it surprising? Not really.

The Broncos game was Mordecai’s audition for the big stage. Instead, that seems to have sealed his fate now. As The Athletics’ Matt Barrows and Vic Tafur took a swing at the 53-man roster projection, the QB room didn’t have a battle anymore. Tanner Mordecai, along with Carter Bradley, lost their battle decisively, per the report. With Brock Purdy locked in and Mac Jones delivering a memorable first quarter, Barrows and Tafur now project both Bradley and Mordecai to be cut from the final roster.

As the insiders put it bluntly, “The 49ers put their money on Purdy. And Jones had a touchdown drive against the Broncos starters on Saturday, so Shanahan is pretty happy with his top two quarterbacks. Let’s never discuss the other two quarterbacks’ performance from that night again.” Coach Shanahan’s disappointment didn’t need a lot of words to convey. And waiving him again, was the final nail to the coffin (or is it a deja vu?).

Even with extended reps against Denver’s reserves, Mordecai posted a passer rating of just 18.8. It was the worst among 49ers QBs that night as he struggled to spark the offense. As he played under center in the fourth quarter, the disappointments mounted quickly. Right off the bat, he dropped the ball and cost the Niners 9 yards. Shortly afterwards, as Mordecai tried to escape pressure, he made a blind throw right in the laps of the Broncos’ defense. For the Niners, the message was unforgiving. Mordecai, for all his familiarity with Kyle Shanahan’s system, could not deliver when the stage was set.

The offense, with so many backups on the field, looked stuck in quicksand. Carter Bradley was nearly as ineffective as Mordecai in his debut while the defense found itself a step behind against Broncos signal-caller Jarrett Stidham. The lone bright spot? Special teams, who accounted for the 49ers’ only highlight in an otherwise forgettable game. With disappointments setting in early, the Niners are now set to lean on a learner QB room, moving forward with Purdy and Jones while rookie Kurtis Rourke continues his rehab. But for Brock Purdy’s ‘25 season, he’s already faced with a massive challenge… to prove himself.

2025: Brock Purdy’s proving ground

As Mordecai and Bradley exit stage left, the 49ers’ QB story finds its center: Brock Purdy. Fresh off a blockbuster five-year, $265 million extension, Purdy enters the new season bearing both expectations and skepticism. Last season, his play declined as injuries mounted around him and his willingness to take risks sometimes backfired. This year’s training camp didn’t bode that well for Purdy either. For the new season, the question isn’t about wins. It’s about whether Purdy can recapture the surgical precision that made him Mr. Irrelevant turned Niners’ centerpiece.

As SI’s Jose Luis Sanchez III put it, “even though he’s been paid, Purdy still has a lot to prove in 2025. For starters, he has to prove that 2024 was a blip on his resume.” Sanchez makes the case that last season, Purdy adopted a “gunslinger mentality” which caught him taking bigger risks. While some of it paid off, they also resulted in bad plays and throws. The mission now for Purdy, as Sanchez sees it, is to bring that ‘23 season’s Purdy back. “What Purdy has to prove in 2025 is that he’s learned from 2024. That he’s more of the quarterback in 2023 than in 2024. The 49ers need him to be after extending him. Otherwise, there’s going to be hectic discussions revolving around Purdy after the season.”

For Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers, the preseason opener sounded an alarm. Backup competitions resolved themselves not with flashes of brilliance but the blunt confirmation of what was clearly lacking. The offense outside of Purdy remains a work in progress. It resembles a live-fire drill with jobs, and perhaps playoff futures, on the line. As for Purdy, every snap in 2025 will carry stakes much bigger than the scoreboard. Can he fight against his weaknesses and prove the Niners’ bet on him, right? With September arriving soon, we’ll find out…