Brock Purdy - Mr. Irrelevant to Potential Super Bowl Champion
The former Iowa State 4-year starter at Quarterback, 2021 AP First Team All-Big 12, and the Big 12 Conference 2022 Sportsman of the Year comes in to take the reins and finish the season, and he’s more than capable of not crashing the 49ers once-in-a-decade sports car.
Brock Purdy
The San Francisco 49ers roster is loaded with gritty, physically imposing, star-studded talent across all three stages of the game. Their offense is a physical machine, forcing you to deal with an advanced West Coast offensive scheme featuring the likes of Christian McCaffery, Deebo Samuel George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk, and Jauan Jennings, while Trent Williams and company form the great wall of Berlin on the offensive line. Meanwhile, the defense is arguably the best in football, averaging a league-leading and staggering 15 points per game allowed, while also being the top-rated defense via PFFs Team Defense grade at 84.3. This team, with Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch at its helm, seemed destined for greatness. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.
PFF’s Team Defense Ranking, December 23, 2022
The Injury Bug that Brought Us Here
The previously mentioned Fire Nation is the injury bug. Jimmy G was holding it down as well as expected for the predicament he was thrown into for the 2022-23 season, but injuries have always been his downfall, and it seems his journey as a San Francisco 49er is coming to a close. If Jimmy Garoppolo had been able to stay healthy for most of his career, the 49ers might have never drafted Trey Lance, who unfortunately broke his ankle in Week 2 of his first season starting, in the first place. Now, enter Brock Purdy with both QBs injured and out for the season.
Brock Purdy Will be Just Fine
The former Iowa State 4-year starter at Quarterback, 2021 AP First Team All-Big 12, and the Big 12 Conference 2022 Sportsman of the Year comes in to take the reins and finish the season, and he’s more than capable of not crashing the 49ers once-in-a-decade sports car.
Let me emphasize not crashing; that’s all the 49ers need Brock Purdy to do for these final games of the regular season and a hopeful 4-game stretch against the best of the NFC and the king of the AFC. So far, in a 4-game sample size with legitimate snaps, he’s averaging a 66.7% completion percentage, with a 3-1 Touchdown-Interception ratio while averaging 7.3 YPA and only attempting over 30 throws once this season. Kyle Shanahan isn’t asking him to do much except be an accurate distributor of the football to elite offensive talent and weapons galore. Kyle Shanahan has guided Quarterbacks to their most extraordinary capabilities, i.e., Matt Ryan’s 2016 MVP season with the NFC Champion Falcons, which seems almost a lifetime ago, but this scenario is different.
Kyle realized already that Brock Purdy is a younger, more athletic, and healthier version of Jimmy Garoppolo, albeit with much less experience as a pro. At Iowa State, Purdy averaged a 68% completion percentage, throwing for 12,170 yards to go with a 2.5-1 touchdown to interception ratio. As a 4-year competent starter and Fiesta Bowl 2020 Offensive MVP, he’s more than capable of fulfilling his role as a game manager and distributor for this 49ers team, with a younger, healthier set of legs and an arm livelier than Jimmy G has had for the past 2 years now, due to injury.
Brock Purdy versus the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field, December 15th, 2022
The 49ers Will Come Through in the Playoffs
All this to say, the San Francisco 49ers have and will continue to prove they are still in the top flight of the NFC next to the Eagles, Vikings, and Cowboys. This team has won games despite the quarterback play on some Sunday, Thursday, and Monday nights. Brock Purdy’s unpredictability to the opposing defense and the overall juggernaut status of the 49ers can get this team past the NFC. Brock Purdy has a chance here to make history and stand up for Mr. Irrelevant of every draft across the timeline of the NFL. Only time will tell, and I’m excited to see it unfold.
EDIT: The 49ers this past Christmas Eve put on an impressive 2nd half-performance against the Washington Commanders, claiming a resounding 37-20 victory at home.