Before I start writing, let me first apologize for my absence the last two months. I’ve grown a loyal audience in my beginning stages (I am so grateful for all of you) and it was not my intention to abandon it. My real-life job has been extremely busy due to people quitting and retiring. I’m sorry and hope you, the working reader, can understand. I promise moving forward to keep up with this page as much as I can.
Over the last few weeks I have seen a lot of Brock Purdy hate on social media. “System quarterback” and “game manager” are two things people say to discredit a quarterback who has been to the NFC championship two straight years.
I get it. Purdy was put in the best possible system under Kyle Shanahan, with MVP-worthy weapons in Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle. However, I don’t believe he’s just a product of that system.
People love to blame the quarterback when things go wrong. Look at the Baltimore Ravens for example: Lamar Jackson is taking so much heat for their playoff loss against the Kansas City Chiefs, meanwhile the defense put them in a hole early and Zay Flowers ruined a lengthy drive through a string of mental errors. Those same people putting the blame entirely on Jackson don’t want to give Purdy any credit when things go right. The quarterback is objectively the most important position in football, and you don’t get to two straight championship games without one.
Calling the 49ers’ second-year quarterback a game manager is lazy. If you really watch him play you’ll see that he’s calm in the pocket, makes good reads, and puts the ball in the perfect spot for the receivers. He can also get out of the pocket and run for the first down (it drove me nuts Sunday night when Greg Olsen kept insisting Purdy wasn’t athletic). If you prefer to go by stats, you’ll see that he had the third most passing touchdowns this season despite being 20th (dead last for qualified players) in pass attempts; a 7% touchdown rate. He led the league in passer rating, QBR, and yards per attempt at almost 10 yards! Fans don’t want to give him his flowers because he doesn’t throw the ball a lot, but he doesn’t need to. He is the most efficient quarterback this league has seen in a long time.
Maybe I just like him because he’s a baseball guy, or maybe I just appreciate the great story of Mr. Irrelevant leading his team to a Super Bowl, but I’m giving Brock Purdy the credit he’s earned. He’s not the second coming of Brady (don’t look at my past posts) or even the MVP of his own team, but he’s a good, consistent quarterback who knows what he is, and a lot of teams in the NFL would be lucky to find a guy like that.
Tough Money Sports 