San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has spent much of his young career as a Rorschach test for NFL fans.
If you view the quarterback as the bus driver of the offense regardless of the pieces around him, you are probably pretty high on the former seventh-round draft pick. If you believe quarterbacks are functions of the systems around them, you are probably comparatively low on Purdy.
Regardless of his big-picture view of football, put Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo in the former camp.
"I can't find a weakness in this quarterback," Spagnuolo told reporters Thursday. "Every time I put the film on, I'm more and more impressed."
Spags shows so much respect for Brock Purdy. Always. pic.twitter.com/me5Yzrx7Ml
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) October 17, 2024
Spagnuolo, discussing the Chiefs' early impressions of Purdy, pointed to a game in 2022 where the Iowa State product relieved then-49ers starter Jimmy Garoppolo as San Francisco attempted a last-ditch drive. The 49ers lost the game 44–23, but Purdy completed four of nine attempts for 66 yards before throwing an interception.
"The quarterback's really good against zone and finding those pockets and spaces," Spagnuolo said. "The receivers adjust routes to do that—that makes it really challenging in zone."
Kansas City, looking to remain unbeaten, is scheduled to play San Francisco on Sunday in a rematch of Super Bowl LVIII.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chiefs Defensive Coordinator Gives Honest Take on Difficulty of Facing Brock Purdy.
