This is the second season in a row that the San Francisco 49ers have been ravaged by multiple serious injuries to key players. But unlike last season, when they fell apart and finished 6-11, they have held things together and currently have a very respectable 7-4 record.
A big reason for their success this season, in spite of their health problems, has been the play of quarterback Mac Jones, who filled in ably when starter Brock Purdy was forced to miss eight games with a toe injury. Jones threw for 2,151 yards and 13 touchdowns while completing 69.6% of his pass attempts, and he has come a long way after being dismissed as a bust as recently as last year.
Jones has therefore rehabbed his value across the NFL, which means that multiple teams will likely attempt to pry him away from the 49ers via some sort of trade this offseason. In that scenario, the Niners will need to find a new QB2, and Matt Barrows and Jimmy Durkin of The Athletic identified one candidate they feel could find similar success thanks to similar qualities.
“Jimmy notes that Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell has a lot of Jones-ian qualities, including good anticipation (and not much running ability),” Barrows wrote in a recent mailbag. “The 49ers were sniffing around O'Connell before the 2023 draft. He's still got one more year on his rookie contract, and the Raiders would have to release him for him to be available. But if they did, he'd make sense for San Francisco.”
O’Connell, who was a fourth-round draft pick in 2023, has totaled 3,830 passing yards, 20 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions while completing 62.6% of his pass attempts over the last two seasons as the Raiders’ QB1. He has proven himself to be an inadequate starting signal-caller, but perhaps he could be satisfactory in a backup role.
He has had a lower interception rate than Jones had in the three seasons prior to this one, and his 3.4% touchdown rate is slightly higher than Jones’ 3.1% touchdown rate from 2022 to 2024.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan employs an offensive system that tends to get the most out of his players, especially his quarterbacks. It has played a role in Jones’ apparent revival, and perhaps O’Connell, who was named second-team All-Big-Ten twice while at Purdue University, can be a nice insurance option for them in 2026.
But for now, Purdy is back, and after he looked like his best self in Sunday’s win over the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco is focused on getting back to the playoffs and doing some real damage there.
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