The San Francisco 49ers defeated the New York Giants 30-12 on Thursday Night Football to move to 3-0 on the season. It was another dominating performance across the board, with the defense holding the Giants offense to just 3.6 yards per play and the offense racking up 435 net yards. The win also moved Brock Purdy’s regular season record to 8-0 as a starter. But is Purdy as good as his record indicates? Or is he simply the benefactor of a strong system?
Purdy’s story is well-documented at this point. He was the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft and thrust into action for the 49ers late last season after Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo both went down with injuries. Purdy stepped in, won all five of his starts in the regular season, and helped take the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game before tearing his UCL against the Philadelphia Eagles. Purdy spent the offseason rehabbing, came back, and won the starting job from Lance and Sam Darnold early in training camp and here we are. The 49ers are now 3-0 with Purdy at the helm.
Despite the impressive start, the jury is still out on Purdy as a legitimate starting quarterback – or at least one who can take the 49ers to the promised land – and justifiably so. For starters, he’s only started 12 career games. Purdy’s raw numbers are impressive this season. He’s thrown four touchdowns and zero interceptions while completing 67% of his passes for 736 yards and the 49ers offense is third in EPA per play, per RBSDM. Efficient? Check. Impressive? Check. But looking beyond the raw numbers is necessary.
The 49ers supporting cast is one of the more impressive in the NFL. Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, and Kyle Juszcyk are a formidable group. They’re all the proprietors of diverse skill sets which Kyle Shanahan uses to maximize his playbook. It made life increasingly easier for Jimmy Garoppolo and it’s making life easier for Purdy.
Especially on Thursday night. Purdy threw for 310 yards against the Giants, but 191 of those yards came after the catch and his average depth of target was 6.4 yards. That would be 30th out of 33 quarterbacks in 2023. In fairness to Purdy, only 45 percent of his passing yards in 2023 have come after the catch – that’s 16th in the NFL. But Purdy is so akin to Garoppolo, he just has a little more playmaking in him.
That’s why Shanahan likes him – he plays within the rhythm of the offense, gets the ball to his playmakers, and doesn’t make too many mistakes. Although, Purdy’s turnover-worthy play rate is the 11th highest in the NFL – there might be some regression on the way. Especially since Purdy’s play can often be…reckless. He’s culpable of trusting his arm talent a little too much and that’s led to some errant throws that haven’t always resulted in interceptions. Sometimes, hunting for that big play can be to his detriment.
But the 49ers have had early success with Purdy. Enough for them to decide that it was worth moving on from Trey Lance, who they paid three 1st round picks for. There are reasons to be excited about his performances as well. The playmaking addition that Garoppolo didn’t have is nice when the play breaks down or Purdy needs to step up in the pocket and make something happen off-script. How far can the 49ers go with Purdy, though?
With the blend of coaching, roster construction, and Purdy fitting into Shanahan’s scheme, the 49ers have already proven to be contenders in the NFC. As long as Purdy continues to execute Shanahan’s offense, doesn’t make mistakes, and lets the defense handle their business, the 49ers are in a good position. Even if it does feel held together by tenuous threads. Purdy might not be the next big thing, but he’s enough for Shanahan.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport
Photo: Jar-Lar. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.