Who is 49ers backup quarterback if Brock Purdy can’t play?

The San Francisco 49ers might be forced to go to the bench again at quarterback. Who would the next man up be?

We got further confirmation on Wednesday that Kyle Shanahan’s quarterbacks are simply cursed. Brock Purdy, who has performed well when called upon as the third quarterback option of the season for the San Francisco 49ers (first: Trey Lance; second: Jimmy Garoppolo), might not play on Thursday night against the Seattle Seahawks.

That would be a shame and lead to the 49ers starting their fourth quarterback of the season.

Many people didn’t know who Purdy was when he suited up for the first time in a real game situation, though (he was Mr. Irrelevant after all). So behind him, it gets even more anonymous. Who is the de facto QB if Purdy can’t go?

If Brock Purdy can’t play, who is San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback?

Josh Johnson would be the 49ers’ go-to guy if Purdy can’t go on Thursday and beyond. Johnson signed with the 49ers midway through this season after spending most of the year on the Denver Broncos practice squad.

How much experience does 49ers backup quarterback Josh Johnson have?

Josh Johnson has seen a lot of the NFL. The problem is the parts he has seen are the uglier and unspoken sides: The life of being a practice squad and nomadic backup QB.

Johnson made his NFL debut in 2009 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has gone on to appear in games for the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Washington Commanders (then-Redskins), New York Jets, and Baltimore Ravens. He’s also been a practice squad member with the Giants, Bills, Colts, Texans, Jets, and even the 49ers back in 2012.

Johnson has only started nine games, though, and has thrown a grand total of 355 times.

There are some advantages to being the nomadic practice squad guy, though. You have to adapt quickly and learn playbooks at rapid speed, which means Johnson being thrown into the fire with the 49ers is nothing new for him. Shanahan spoke on that and admitted that was part of why they signed Johnson:

"“That’s one of the reasons we brought him here because Josh is really good at picking things up,” Shanahan said. “We just put him in the game for the whole quarter, where he had to handle the jet sweep, timing of motions and things like that."

Andrew Brandt confirmed the idea that he’s loved by coaches:

"“I have never met Johnson, but I have heard this statement repeatedly about him: “Coaches love him.” It is clear that Johnson embraces being a backup quarterback, serving the starting quarterback in whatever way possible and being, in essence, a quarterback coach while still being a player.”"

While others, like Chase Daniel, carve out a niche as a perpetual pro-level QB, Johnson has had to live an even more unknown part of the NFL experience as the practice squad, bounce-around guy.

Josh Johnson career earnings: How much has nomadic backup life earned him?

Josh Johnson has made $8.569 million in career earnings as estimated by Spotrac. That includes over $200,000 for his time as a member of the Broncos’ practice squad this season.