After a search that has lasted nearly 25 years, it appears that the 49ers have finally found a long-term answer at quarterback. Since 1999, the 49ers have had a whopping 19 different starting quarterbacks. For a short period of time, the 49ers had thought that Jimmy Garoppolo would be their guy in the future, but he fizzled out quickly. Garoppolo won games but it was apparent that he wasn’t the reason the 49ers won. When the chips were down and the 49ers needed a play, Garoppolo wouldn’t provide that play. This was proved repeatedly, the two most prominent examples being the 2021 NFC Championship game and the 2019 Super Bowl.
Brock Purdy has only been in San Francisco for two seasons now. People say he’s a game manager or just another Garoppolo. However, Purdy has proved something in the last two weeks. He’s proved something that Jimmy G could never prove in his 49ers career. Purdy proved that when it mattered, he could win a game for his team. He proved that he could play out of structure and outside of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s system if he needed to. Garoppolo, with all his wins, never proved he can do that in the playoffs.
The last two weeks haven’t been great for Purdy. He’s been mind-blowingly lucky, with a myriad of dropped interceptions. The first-half statistics of both of his playoff games look like the statistics of a 7th-round pick in his first year starting. However, even his dud playoff games have been better than Garoppolo’s average playoff game. In six playoff games, Jimmy G’s playoff stats were 962 yards (160 yards/game), 4 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, and a 74.1 QB Rating. Excluding last year’s NFC Title Game, Purdy’s stats over just four games are way better looking. 1,088 yards (272 yards/game), 5 touchdowns, 1 interception, and a 98.2 QB Rating.
Purdy is the Long-Term Answer in San Francisco
Purdy’s regular season was one for the ages. He led the league in yards-per-attempt (9.6), air yards-per-attempt (5.5), yards-per-completion (13.9), QB Rating (113.0), and QBR (72.7). He also finished top 5 in passing yards (4280), passing yards-per-game (267.5), and passing touchdowns (31). Purdy’s amazing regular season landed him as a finalist for the Most Valuable Player award and a Pro Bowl nod. Although Baltimore‘s Lamar Jackson is likely to take home the MVP, Purdy was at one point the favorite before he imploded with a 4 interception performance against Jackson’s Ravens on Monday Night Football.
Under Purdy’s quarterbacking, the 49ers set a record that hadn’t been set since 2004. They first team since the 2004 Colts to have a 4,000-yard passer and 4 players with 1,000+ scrimmage yards. George Kittle had his first 1,000-yard season since 2019. Brandon Aiyuk had a career year, totaling 1,342 receiving yards and 17.9 yards per catch. This obviously speaks to the prowess of these skill-position players but also shows a lot about Purdy. It shows his ability and eagerness to push the ball downfield. Purdy should win the MVP this season. One game shouldn’t in any way, shape, or form eliminate him from the running. The award should be between him, his teammate Christian McCaffrey, and Buffalo‘s Josh Allen. Jackson is great, but his season wasn’t close to the season the other three had. The only reason Jackson is the favorite is blatant media bias.
Brock Purdy is a GAME-CHANGER
The narrative is DEAD. Forget system quarterback, Brock Purdy is not even a game manager. He is a playmaker. He is an electric game-changer. As the kids would say, he’s a pure baller. He made plays on Sunday night that looked straight out of the Mahomes, Allen, or Jackson school of quarterbacking. He made key plays on 3rd-down in key spots over and over again. These are the kinds of plays that cement a quarterback as a franchise quarterback.
Purdy’s ability to use his legs is the most underrated aspect of his game. He had a play in the 3rd quarter where he spun out of a sack from Detroit cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu and threw a dart to fullback Kyle Juszczyk. Of course, his big runs in the 3rd and 4th quarter to set up key scores by McCaffrey and running back Elijah Mitchell were also plays that the 49ers wouldn’t have won without. So perhaps the opinion of a man who was cut in favor of Mac Jones and didn’t jump on his own fumble in the Super Bowl doesn’t matter as much as people may think.
History
In addition to his dazzling plays on Sunday night, Purdy also set records that hadn’t been set in 30 years. He became the first quarterback in 30 years to pass for 150+ yards, run for 45+ yards, record an 80%+ completion percentage, have no turnovers, and average 10+ yards a rush in a single half of any game of football, regular season, and postseason. This is not the statistics of a game manager. These are for sure not the statistics of a system quarterback. Rather, they are the stats of a game-changer. For the first time since 1999 and Steve Young, the San Francisco 49ers have themselves a franchise quarterback.
Main Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
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