Brock Purdy is an oddly polarizing quarterback, even amongst 49ers fans. He's either the second coming of Joe Montana or the most overrated QB in the history of the NFL, being carried by one of the best teams in the NFL.
Okay, it's not that bad. It does feel that way though.
I told my podcast partner Roderick Adams that he reminds me more of Jeff Garcia than Joe Montana, but without that same chip on his shoulder, even if both were overlooked coming out of college. At least Purdy didn't have to go to the CFL like Jeff did.
Here's what we do know:
- Brock Purdy is currently 11-0 in his career during the regular season.
- The 49ers are 3-0, one of only three teams still undefeated in this young season.
- He's second to Tua in ESPN's QBR stat.
- He's the 27th ranked QB on Steven Ruiz's QB rankings for The Ringer.
But on the flip side, there's an argument that quarterback wins is a bad stat. And on another flipside, there's no way in blue hell that Purdy should be ranked behind CJ Stroud and Baker Mayfield, or Handsome Jimmy G, on any list in which you rate how good of a NFL quarterback someone is.
I have a much better comparison for one Brock Richard Purdy.
As everyone knows, Purdy was drafted last in the 2022 draft. He sat behind Trey Lance and Nate Sudfeld during the preseason until Kyle Shanahan realized that he wouldn't be able to sneak Purdy through waivers before signing him to the practice squad. He waived Sudfeld instead. And they were able to restructure Jimmy Garoppolo's contract a week before the season started, so he was back, but this time as the backup.
When Trey Lance went down with an injury in the second game of the 2022 season, Shanahan didn't turn the reigns over to young Brock just yet. It was Jimmy G time again. Brock's only real significant playing time was in mop up duty in week 7 during a blowout loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. 49ers fans are absolute liars if they said they saw something in that performance.
And then it happened. In week 12 versus Miami, Jimmy G went down and young Brock had to come in and keep the ball rolling. The 49ers had just won four games in a row and were hotter than blazes. They wouldn't lose again until the NFC Championship game.
Is Brock Purdy the new Lou Gehrig? No, but he might be the new Matt Saracen.
Hear me out. At the beginning of the 2006 season, Matt Saracen was the backup quarterback for Texas powerhouse high school, the Dillon Panthers. He played under Jason Street who had an offer to go to Notre Dame before the season began. In the first game of the season, Street threw an interception and has to make the tackle to stop the pick six. During the tackle, he becomes paralyzed and his football career was immediately over. Enter Mighty Matt Sacaren. Saracen, who wasn't expected to play one meaningful snap all season long, was thrust into the game and made a game-winning touchdown pass at the end to win it.
Saracen wasn't always the savior of the season. Local business owner Buddy Garrity called him, "Little Matty Saracen," and that wasn't because he liked him. But throughout the season, Little Matty got the job done and the Panthers eventually did win state.
The comparison begins with taking over for an injured stalwart. They continue as both are undersized QBs, even though Larry Krueger doesn't think Purdy is THAT small. And I imagine someone somewhere at some point called Brock, "Little Brocky." And Ruiz had Saracen at number 1,234 in his 2006 Texas High School QB rankings.
Can Brock win the NFL's version of state? Can he take the 49ers to the promise land? All I know is, "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose."
