A season-ending foot injury to Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 13 forced the 49ers to turn to seventh-round rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, the infamous “Mr. Irrelevant” of this year’s draft. But, after impressive showings in one and a half weeks’ worth of work, Purdy has already appeared to win over one of the franchise’s all-time greats.
Purdy’s solid play combined with the 49ers (9–4) deploying the league’s best defense has kept the club’s hopes of a deep postseason run alive as the team closes in on the NFC West title in Week 15. The lingering question surrounding the team, however, concerns whether or not the 22-year-old QB will be able to lead San Fran and an offense that boasts Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle all the way to Super Bowl LVII in February.
When asked this week if he believes the 49ers can go all the way, Joe Montana told USA Today that he likes their chances if Purdy continues to play like he did in Week 14. Purdy, making his first career start, completed 16-of-21 passes for 185 yards with three total touchdowns in a 35-7 home win over Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.
