Brock Purdy has proven to be one of the more mobile quarterbacks in the NFL, and his ability to avoid sacks when pressured has been elite.
When San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy took the field as a rookie after Jimmy Garoppolo was lost against the Miami Dolphins a few years ago, it didn’t take long to realize the offense was dealing with a different type of athlete under center.
One thousand passing attempts later, and Purdy has proven to be one of the most mobile quarterbacks in the NFL. Per Next Gen Stats, Purdy was pressured 37 percent of the time and blitzed at a 31 percent clip last year, both of which were the ninth-most in the NFL.
It’s important to remember that quarterbacks can run into their own pressure. Per PFF, only four quarterbacks were responsible for creating more pressure for themselves than Purdy was in 2024. And it’s somewhat understandable. Brock played several games without his star running back, wide receiver, and left tackle. Trust was an issue.
Still, Brock had a propensity to hold the ball and take unnecessary hits and sacks last year when the offensive line did hold up. According to PFF, Purdy had one of the worst sack rates versus actual dropbacks in the league last year.
However, Purdy’s ability to avoid the negative play under pressure was stellar. Purdy finished 11th in non-running back rushing yardage this past season, despite having significantly fewer rushing attempts than most players ahead of him. He was among the league leaders in the NFL in scramble yardage, which tells you Purdy can create on his own, and, more importantly, flip those negative plays into first downs.
Purdy finished 12th in sack percentage last season among quarterbacks who threw at least 200 passes. But he was fifth in EPA lost per sack, telling you how well Purdy’s sack avoidance was in 2024.
sack avoidance is widely discussed but what’s often overlooked is sack mitigation (the ability to limit the damage when a sack does happen)
last season, jayden daniels made sure his sacks didn’t derail drives (min. 300 dropbacks in 2024) pic.twitter.com/ca9Ae1NxFn
— Tej Seth (@tejfbanalytics) April 2, 2025
The EPA lost on sacks in the last column is how the players are being ranked. Sacks are drive killers. This information tells us that the top quarterbacks find ways to minimize sack yardage. You can overcome 2nd & 11 or 12, but when it comes to losing yardage to the equivalent of a penalty, 2nd & 20 is nearly doomsday.
Since 2020, the difference in drives with and without a sack is north of 1.2 points per drive, which is pretty substantial. Last year, for the entire league, teams lost more total EPA on sacks than on interceptions.
So, find a quarterback who can either avoid taking sacks or lessen the damage when he goes down. In the case of the 49ers, based on the previous couple of seasons, they have one under center.