San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy continues to be the NFL’s newest Cinderella story, and he has thus raised his team’s ceiling.
In just his first full season as a starter, he leads the league in passer rating and QBR and is second in passing yards and passing touchdowns. Thanks to his excellent play, the 49ers have already clinched the top seed in the NFC and home-field advantage before their Week 18 contest against the Los Angeles Rams.
Since San Francisco has virtually nothing to play for on Sunday, Purdy will sit out that contest and backup Sam Darnold will start instead. Darnold said he has learned a lot from Purdy, even though Purdy is only in his first full pro season as a starter.
“A lot,” Darnold said when asked what he has learned from the Niners’ QB1. “Brock is, just in terms of his process, what he does to get ready for the game, he studies a ton and he’s very meticulous about that. Just the way he goes about reading the defense, and he does exactly as he’s coached and he stays within himself better than any quarterback I’ve been around in terms of just taking what the defense gives him. … I think he’s very poised in certain situations to be able to just check the ball down and live to fight another day.”
NFL News & Rumors: Sam Darnold, Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers Updates
There is a misconception that all Purdy does is play the role of a game manager and throw short, safe passes while relying on his teammates to make plays, break tackles and add yards after the catch. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
He’s actually leading the NFL in air yards per attempt with 9.6. In second place is the Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa with 8.4 air yards per attempt.
While Purdy obviously takes plenty of shots downfield beyond 15-20 yards (and is very accurate in doing so), he doesn’t take unnecessary risks in doing so. Outside of his disastrous four-interception outing on Christmas Day versus the Baltimore Ravens, he has thrown only seven interceptions this season and has had only two games with more than one pick (in both those games he had a mere two interceptions).
Darnold, who was the No. 3 pick in the 2018 draft, is not going to impress anyone with his accuracy (he has a lifetime 59.7 percent completion rate). But he will have a chance on Sunday to prove that he can still be a competent signal-caller when he needs to.
The Rams have something to play for, as they currently hold the sixth seed. A loss to the 49ers on Sunday could drop them to the seventh seed, and the 49ers will want to play the role of spoiler against their longtime division rivals.
