Starting a series of ‘What we learned’ from the 49ers in 2024 and kicking things off with a conversation about Brock Purdy
The sky was the limit for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy after a 2023 campaign that saw the quarterback finish fourth in MVP voting. The stars aligned, and the 49ers offense stayed healthy, and Purdy ran that offense masterfully, leading the Niners to the Super Bowl.
But then the stars shifted in 2024. For multiple reasons, Purdy wasn’t as effective during his second season as the 49ers starter. The numbers you hoped would improve from 2023 regressed, and the bad stats went up, leaving the 49ers with a mega-million dollar decision to make – one, admittedly, John Lynch and company should solve relatively quickly.
First, let’s look at the things out of Purdy’s control: the injuries. Of Purdy’s 31 passing touchdowns in 2023, two players responsible for 14 played 11 games combined in 2024, with Christian McCaffrey dealing with various leg injuries and Brandon Aiyuk tearing his ACL in Week 7. While Deebo Samuel and George Kittle were still at hand all year, losing Aiyuk AND McCaffrey was too detrimental for the offense to overcome.
With McCaffrey’s injury, the 49ers offense was without the single most dangerous weapon in the National Football League. Any offense would be hampered – whether quarterbacked by Purdy or Josh Allen – with an injury to the level of player McCaffrey is.
The loss of Aiyuk was the loss of Purdy’s best route-runner and the most viable deep threat that changed the offense. Even with his struggles, the gravity Aiyuk draws in the passing game makes things easier for players like Samuel. I don’t think it’s exactly a coincidence that Samuel’s regression in 2024 coincided with Aiyuk’s injury. The Niners scored 30 points six times this season: three times in Aiyuk’s seven games and three times in the 10 games after.
One of those injuries was Trent Williams, who missed the season’s last seven games. Williams played on an offensive line that struggled in 2024, not making Purdy’s job any easier. Purdy was sacked three more times this season in one fewer game played in 2023, with a career-high 6.38 sack percentage. Every spot on the line had its share of struggles, with Dominick Puni as the only starter guaranteed to be a starter in 2025, depending on whether Williams decides to continue playing football.
But Purdy wasn’t blameless in his regression. Just on the look, things felt different. His passes just didn’t have the same zip. His downfield passes were too often underthrown. The numbers weren’t as good, either. Purdy threw for 11 fewer touchdowns than in 2023, throwing for 20 touchdowns with a career-low 4.4 touchdown percentage.
With the career-low TD percentage, he also had a career-high in interceptions and interception percentage, but those were just slight increases: one more interception and a .1 higher INT percentage.
The timing of the interceptions hurt Purdy. Of the 12 interceptions, 10 came in the second half, and six came in the fourth quarter. San Francisco played eight games, and the final score was within seven points. They finished 2-6 in those eight games. Purdy threw seven interceptions in those eight games. Pick your favorite heartbreaking 2024 loss; there’s probably a bad Purdy interception.
The question isn’t if the 49ers will give Purdy an extension; it’s what the numbers are before the zeroes start. If Purdy had a repeat of his 2023 season, that number would be no problem to accept. But 2024 happened, and now it feels the bigger the number, the more significant the risk.
While Purdy’s inconsistencies played a role in the 49ers’ six-win season, the defense’s failures played a more prominent role. We will look at that tomorrow in part two of what we learned from the 2024 49ers.