Don’t look now, but Brock Purdy is proving to everyone he is the San Francisco 49ers’ future.
After what we saw last week vs. the Dallas Cowboys, it is safe to say the San Francisco 49ers have found their quarterback of the future in Brock Purdy.
Going up against a Pro Bowl passer in Dak Prescott, the rookie out of Iowa State outplayed him throughout the NFC Divisional Round game. Mr. Irrelevant needed his defense to bring it backing him up, but Purdy did not make the mental errors a far more seasoned Prescott did on Sunday. Clearly, there is something there with Purdy. It is sadly over for Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance.
Despite being under pressure for nearly half of his dropbacks (48.5 percent), Purdy did not panic. He completed 15-of-17 passes for 159 yards and no turnovers in the low-scoring affair. His counterpart was inherently reckless with the football, only to be outdone by rampant stupidity from his teammates and coaching staff in crunch time. Shockingly, Purdy was cool under pressure.
The fact Purdy is doing all this in his rookie year shows we did short him coming out of Iowa State.
Brock Purdy proving to be San Francisco 49ers’ present, future at quarterback
What we are seeing out of Purdy is what would have happened if Kyle Shanahan really did like Five Guys around 3. And what I mean by that is this. What Purdy is doing under center is what Mac Jones could have done had the 49ers not wasted all that draft capital on Lance. While he may have the higher upside over Jones and Purdy, the NFL is a “what have you done for me lately?” league.
No, we’re not going to KISS it (keep it simple, stupid), but what Purdy is doing in year one in Shanahan’s offense is certainly impressive. It took a future Pro Football Hall of Famer in Matt Ryan until his second year to really flourish in this system. Ryan won NFL MVP and took the 2016 Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl. In short, Purdy is the perfect player to run Shanahan’s offense.
It is not necessarily designed for the most talented, but rather the most disciplined passer who is willing to stay on schedule. Use the run to open up the pass is still an effective tactic schematically in this league. But what makes this so great for Purdy is he is still in his first year on his rookie contract. The 49ers are paying him pennies on the dollar. They can load up the roster around him.
Look. The 49ers are the hottest team in football, having won 12 games in a row. But eventually, Purdy will have to outplay a more talented quarterback. Jalen Hurts will be a huge step up for him in the conference title bout in Philadelphia on Sunday. Should the 49ers win the NFC, he will have to face either Joe Burrow or Patrick Mahomes in his hometown. Purdy vs. the world in Phoenix!
Ultimately, Purdy has a relatively low ceiling when compared to Burrow or Mahomes. It’s okay. Most quarterbacks come up short to them anyway. However, we grossly underestimated Purdy’s floor coming out. He did have the Cyclones playing for a Big 12 Championship, albeit in 2020, as well as quarterbacked Iowa State to an unprecedented Fiesta Bowl victory over the Oregon Ducks.
Cool, calm and collected won the 49ers a ton of Super Bowls back in the day with Joe Montana.