After Brock Purdy, the San Francisco 49ers lack depth at quarterback, and late in the draft, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle proposed an appropriately named option.
Branch suggested that the 49ers use a late-round pick to select Rocky Lombardi, the quarterback at Northern Illinois. In addition to having two well-known names from the NFL and Hollywood, Lombardi is a talented passer who finished his college career with 7,418 yards and 42 touchdowns.
“With ten picks, what could be the harm in throwing a dart in the last round and hoping for another Purdy? His first name alone suggests he would have a successful underdog tale, if nothing else, Branch wrote.
Since the 49ers only have Josh Dobbs and Brandon Allen behind Purdy, it makes sense to take a shot on someone like Lombardi. Branch stated that among “the 78 quarterbacks who have thrown at least 250 passes since 2018,” Dobbs (77.3) ranks 70th and Allen (78.0) ranks 69th in terms of passer ratings.
“Yes, they are career-long backup QBs for a reason, but the numbers don’t inspire confidence that they could keep the 49ers afloat if they are needed in 2024,” Branch wrote. “After Dobbs’ hot start in 2023, he threw one touchdown pass and four interceptions in seven-plus quarters, posting a 45.1 rating, and was benched in the fourth quarter of a 3-0 loss to the Raiders.”
As for Allen, he hasn’t started a game since 2021 amid his 2-7 career record. He has a 56.7% completion rate for 1,611 yards and 10 touchdowns versus six interceptions.
Whether or not Lombardi could surpass Dobbs or Allen remains a big question. However, the 49ers found a franchise quarterback in Purdy just two years ago with the final pick of the whole draft.If the 49ers don’t opt for Lombardi, there’s plenty of other options such as Tennessee’s Joe Milton III, Kentucky’s Devin Leary, or Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman
2 Truths Behind Rocky Lombardi’s Name
Kyle Austin of MLive.com claims that Lombardi’s name has no connection to the clear allusions it conveys. Don’t include the late Vince Lombardi, the head coach of the Green Bay Packers and the well-known fictitious Rocky Balboa from the movies.
In 2018, Austin stated, “But he has coaching in his blood and is named after a famous athlete,” when Lombardi was a Michigan State player.
Rocky Bleier, a former Pittsburgh Steelers standout who Tony Lombardi’s father greatly respected, is the inspiration behind Lombardi’s first name. Throughout portions of 11 seasons with the Steelers from 1968 to 1980, Bleier ran for close to 4,000 yards, according to Austin. He is therefore called after a sports hero in Pennsylvania in the middle of the 1970s even though he isn’t named after Rocky Balboa from the ‘Rocky’ flicks.
Austin continued, “And despite his last name, Lombardi is not known to be related to former Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi.” “However, he does have a distinguished coaching pedigree: his father has been a high school and college coach for the past thirty years, his great-grandfather was a college football coach, and his grandfather Bob is inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.”
