With Brock Purdy out, Josh Dobbs will make his first start with the 49ers on Sunday.
The San Francisco 49ers have opted to sit quarterback Brock Purdy for the final game of the season after he dealt with an injury scare this past weekend. With Purdy sidelined, head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday that Josh Dobbs will get the start over Brandon Allen against the Arizona Cardinals. This is a shift for Shanahan, who went with Allen over Dobbs when Purdy was hurt earlier this season.
Allen struggled mightily in his lone start, an embarrassing 38-10 loss to the Packers. He completed just 17 of his 29 pass attempts for 199 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also fumbled twice. It was always baffling for Shanahan to expect more from the 32-year old Allen since that performance was right in line with his career numbers.
Dobbs had been signed to be the Niners top backup quarterback last offseason. He was coming off the best season of his NFL career, where he appeared in 13 games (12 starts) between stints with the Cardinals and Vikings. While his teams went 3-9 in his starts, Dobbs completed 62.8% of his attempts for 2,464 yards. A dual-threat, he also amassed 421 rushing yards and accrued 19 total touchdowns against 10 interceptions. He did however lead the league with 14 fumbles.
Dobbs saw his first regular-season action with the Niners this season as Purdy’s replacement in their 40-34 loss to the Lions. He went 3-4 for 35 yards with a rushing touchdown. He will look to build on that positive stint in Week 18 and help improve his stock before heading back into free agency.