Brock Purdy’s rookie season was by any measure a roaring success. The final pick in the 2022 draft began the year as the third quarterback on San Francisco’s roster, took over the starting job in Week 13 after a pair of injuries ahead of him on the depth chart, then led the 49ers to a 7-1 record as the starting QB. His performance wasn’t very impressive to Pro Football Focus though, which landed Purdy at No. 23 in its quarterback rankings.
It’s hard to place Purdy at this point because of his relatively small sample size. While eight-plus games of strong play is impressive, it pales in comparison to the consistency and longevity needed to unseat some of the league’s more established signal callers above him.
The rankings also ding Purdy for his circumstances. PFF aims to rank the QBs in a vacuum by removing things like coaching and play calling and offensive weapons. So his success last year goes as more of a credit to head coach Kyle Shanahan’s play calling and less to Purdy’s individual play.
Offseason elbow surgery to repair a torn UCL in his throwing elbow is also mentioned as a reason Purdy finds himself deep into the bottom half of the list.
So, how can Purdy climb up from here? There are two things he must do.
First, he has to improve. There were definitely some rookie mistakes in his stint as the starter last year that have to be cleaned up if he’s going to elevate himself out of the bottom half of the league’s signal callers. Purdy has to be more confident in the pocket and not bail out too early. He also had some good turnover luck last year with a couple interceptions either dropped or called back due to defensive penalties. Cutting down on those dangerous throws will be crucial as well.
After that, he has to be good consistently. Putting a good game together here and there while struggling other times won’t be enough. He has to improve and then play at a high level for an extended period of time.
Even then there’ll be people who discount his success because of the coach and the roster, but a larger sample size will help mitigate some of the available criticism of the hot start to his career.
Ultimately where Purdy ranks won’t matter if he’s good enough to win a Super Bowl for the 49ers. Last year’s nine-game run beginning in Week 13 offered a ton of positive signs. Now he has to prove it wasn’t just a flash in the pan.
