Nearly every story about how Brock Purdy performed during his rookie season is filled with superlatives.
The final pick in the 2022 draft, Purdy took over as the 49ers starting quarterback after Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo were lost to injury. The Iowa State product proceeded to make the most of his opportunity.
Purdy’s performance over the final six weeks of the regular season was so impressive that he was a finalist for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, finishing third in the ballot.
The rookies play also caught the eye of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
“The way Brock played last year; he’d be the starter going into it,” said Shanahan when asked about the quarterback position during the NFL owners meeting in March. “Trey had that position going into the year, we were really excited about that and think he would have had a hell of a year. He only got one and a half games and he went out, which opened an opportunity for Jimmy. Jimmy got hurt and opened it up for Brock. And Brock played eight games and won all of them and played at an extremely high level. We’re very excited to have that level of player at quarterback.”
Despite playing at a high level Purdy’s play was far from perfect. Here are three areas Purdy needs to improve in year two.
Footwork and Timing
Arm strength is often a focus when it comes to quarterback. However, more often it’s the ability to get the ball out quickly and accurately that determines how successful a quarterback is. Although Purdy was good with this for the most part, the quarterback recognizes he has room to grow.
“Being on time. Every concept has its own timing and there were times last year where you could tell I was still getting used to things,” said Purdy during an interview on the Roc & Manuch Show on Fox Sports 910AM in Phoenix in late March. “Even when I was playing. The timing of a slant to Brandon Aiyuk compared to Deebo Samuel. There’s two different types of routes, so getting used to that kind of thing.”
Pocket movement
During the NFL scouting combine Purdy showed off his quickness with a 1.55 second ten-yard split during his 40-yard dash. That matches the time put up by teammate Christian McCaffrey.
That quickness allowed Purdy to escape pressure when needed and pick up yards with his legs. This is something the team did not get from Jimmy Garoppolo.
While the movement ability was a plus, Purdy developed a bad habit of bouncing out and to the left instead of stepping up into the pocket. This led to missed opportunities for big plays down the field.
Playing within the structure of the offense
When Purdy played within the structure of the 49ers offense, he was excellent. As time went on and the rookie became more comfortable, he began to freelance more often leading to missed opportunities.
“I feel like those are things when I first went in, I just stuck to what [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] was coaching me on,” said Purdy in late May. “And then as I started playing, there’s times where you want to make some plays and things like that, and you start to get out of what they’re coaching. I feel like playing within what they’re coaching and just playing consistent ball as an NFL quarterback, I think that’s something that I can work on.”
I think Purdy and KS will be tested by DCs especially the DCs in the NFC west. I think they will attempt to take away the short routes while loading the box to stop the run. KS is going to be forced to scheme up plays deep outside the numbers then BP is going to have to execute those throws. We will see if they can succeed.
Interesting write up. I really thought pocket movement was a strength for Purdy. He did venture outside the pocket quite a bit but I just chalked that up to poor O-line play. Curious on all of his scrambles if he had a chance to step up instead of escaping out. I haven’t watched the replay of his injury but I’m wondering if Purdy had a chance to take 2 steps into the pocket to avoid the rush.
He could have stepped up. There was much discussion here about that. I think Jack disagreed with Martz. To me, it was obvious.
Mike Martz: 49ers Brock Purdy responsible for injury on sack from Eagles Haason Reddick
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mike+martz+and+brock+purdy
Ok so I watched that. I guess he could have stepped up but it wasn’t exactly a clean pocket. He would have had to take one step up at the exact right split second and then 2 steps to his right to get to a throwing position. Not many 10 year vets would have made that move on that play.
Aiyuk hadn’t yet made his break downfield. Even if Brock stepped up, he wasn’t ready to throw since he was waiting for Aiyuk to declare instead of trusting where he thought Aiyuk would be. But his arm is not strong enough to gun it in there downfield. He has to throw the ball. Think of the air under some of his long completions where the receiver had to wait. I don’t agree with Martz’ characterization of Brock as being at fault. As you imply, it would be a lot to expect of him.
I appreciate his self awareness. Hopefully that translates into improvement in these areas.
” Purdy developed a bad habit of bouncing out and to the left instead of stepping up into the pocket.”
Even though I agree with your assessment, I think Purdy gets out of the pocket because of his height. He wants to see the whole field and then pick the right guy to throw to. His vision is too restricted inside the pocket, so his instinct tells him to move around.
I think it’s one of his strengths albeit a dangerous one.
12 days to go!!!!
During the NFL scouting combine Purdy showed off his quickness with a 1.55 second ten-yard split during his 40-yard dash. That matches the time put up by teammate Christian McCaffrey.
Purdy is a flash in the pan. He is nothing more then a good backup, but below average starter. We need a badass QB who will strike fear into the hearts of opposing defenses and Purdy isn’t him.