Bengals: 3 Joe Burrow replacements to add if QB misses serious time

Bengals’ Joe Burrow replacement No. 1: Trey Lance/Sam Darnold, 49ers

You’re guess is as good as mine as to what’s going to happen with the San Francisco 49ers quarterback room in training camp.

Coming along quicker in his recovery from an offseason UCL surgery, most indications have Brock Purdy penciled in as the starter for the Niners, but that still leaves two former first-round picks in Trey Lance and Sam Darnold on the depth chart.

Given the crippling injury issues that the 49ers had last year — most notably in the NFC Championship Game — at quarterback, it would be hard to fault them for not wanting to part with either Lance or Darnold in a trade before the start of the regular season. Having said that, smart business would say it’d be in their best interest to do so, especially if a team like the Bengals is calling about replacing Joe Burrow.

Darnold, for his many faults, remains extremely talented and teams have continued to hold out hope that he might finally put it together. Betting on him to do so in the loaded Cincinnati offense would give him the best opportunity to accomplish that that the quarterback has had in his career.

In the case of Lance, there is so much projection going on with the former North Dakota State star, but the flashes he provided in limited work (and less than ideal conditions) at the start of last year prior to getting hurt were enticing.

Trading with the 49ers would be the gambling man’s option for the Bengals, which is perhaps the best move for Cincinnati if it’s a truly substantial amount of time that Joe Burrow is going to miss with the calf/leg injury — something like being out for the whole season. It’s a bet that one of these former highly drafted quarterbacks can take advantage of the talent around them and still lift Cincinnati into the playoff picture.

And with the glut at quarterback in San Francisco, that gamble might not be too costly, which is obviously equally as enticing.