San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy put forth another fantastic effort on Sunday, going 16-for-25 with 242 yards and four touchdowns in a win over the Arizona Cardinals.
Afterward, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked what his favorite quality about Purdy is.
“That he can see the whole field,” Shanahan said, via the 49ers’ official team website. “There’s nothing that he can’t do. He has a poise out there that you can see, he can react—when he doesn’t have time for stuff, he can react and get it to his checkdown so he doesn’t have to take a sack. Or he creates something off-schedule.”
Fans and media pundits have widely criticized Purdy, labeling him a system quarterback and saying he benefits from Shanahan much in the same way that Jimmy Garoppolo did.
However, it’s getting harder and harder to ignore Purdy’s progression.
“He has command of our offense, just running it but also the amount of plays he makes throughout these two years has been as many plays as any quarterback I have ever been around on how much he does,” added Shanahan.
Purdy, who played his collegiate football at Iowa State, was selected by San Francisco with the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.
He entered his rookie campaign as the Niners’ third-string quarterback, but season-ending injuries to Garoppolo and Trey Lance pressed Purdy into starting duty.
Purdy ended up going 5-0 in five starts and totaling 1,374 yards, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Through 14 games this season, the 23-year-old has been even better, leading the NFL with 29 touchdown passes and throwing for 3,795 yards and seven picks while completing 69.8 percent of his passes and posting a league-high passer rating of 119.
The 49ers have won six games in a row and are now 11-3 on the season. They will take on the Arizona Cardinals on Christmas Day before facing the Washington Commanders and Los Angeles Rams to close out the regular season.
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