It’s early, but Brock Purdy is on track to be perhaps the most valuable draft pick in 49ers history. This isn’t to say he’ll be as good as Joe Montana (a third-round selection) or anything like that, but landing a potential franchise quarterback with the final pick in the draft is the stuff team-building dreams are made of.
Purdy was chosen with the No. 262 overall pick with the hope he’d survive camp and the preseason before taking over as the practice squad quarterback. Nate Sudfeld was on track to be the backup QB to Trey Lance. Then Jimmy Garoppolo re-signed and Purdy started performing well and eventually became so valuable that the team couldn’t let him go and released Sudfeld (who they guaranteed $2 million to in the offseason) instead.
The choice paid off in a big way beginning in Week 13 when Garoppolo broke his foot and Purdy took over in the first quarter. He guided the 49ers to a 33-17 win in that game. Then he guided them to another win, and another, and another. San Francisco went 6-0 in that stretch to close the regular season while Purdy completed 68.2 percent completion rate with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions. The 49ers also started ripping off 30-plus points per game.
Purdy’s run as the 49ers’ starter, which included a pair of playoff wins, appeared to line him up as the team’s franchise signal caller. A torn UCL in the NFC championship game threw a wrench into that plan though.
Now the door is open for Lance to get all the QB1 reps in the offseason and through camp. He may even be the starter to begin the 2023 season depending on Purdy’s recovery timeline.
Then there’s the question of how Purdy looks in a more extended sample size. Was his run as the starter a matter of being new to the league, or was it a sign of things to come?
Ideally for San Francisco it would be the latter. If it is, they may have hit on the single greatest NFL draft find in team (NFL?) history.
