For a piece published on Monday, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN shared that a group of “league executives, coaches and scouts” failed to rank Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers among the NFL’s top 10 quarterbacks heading into the 2024 season.
“He’s very good at navigating the pocket, buying time, using his legs — you’re not going to win because of him in most cases,” one NFC executive said about Purdy. “He’s a really good system quarterback.”
According to Pro Football Reference, Purdy finished the 2023 regular season ranked first in the league among qualified quarterbacks with a 72.8 adjusted QBR, a 113.0 passer rating, an average of 9.6 yards gained per pass attempt and a 54.7% passing success rate.
While he has an overall regular-season record of 17-4 as a starter and guided the 49ers to Super Bowl LVIII, some continue to insist the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft is little more than a “game manager” who is lucky to have offensive guru Kyle Shanahan as his head coach and who is fortunate to have star talents like running back Christian McCaffrey, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and tight end George Kittle as weapons.
“It’s hard to call him top 10 based on the guys ahead of him, but it’s hard to keep him out of the top 10, too,” a different NFC executive said about Purdy. “He willed that team to the Super Bowl. Only right to give him serious consideration.”
Fowler noted that “multiple evaluators” said that Purdy “has more limitations than some of the quarterbacks ahead of him” on the ESPN list. Many nevertheless believe the 24-year-old will become one of the league’s highest-paid players if he signs a contract extension next offseason.
That deal could become more expensive than some are predicting this summer if Purdy starts a conference championship game for the third time in his young career.
As of Monday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Niners as the betting favorites at +250 odds to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LIX. Perhaps Purdy will be viewed as a top-10 player at the sport’s most important position next year if he’s a reigning Super Bowl champion at that time.
