The Brock Purdy party resumes in San Francisco - and the 49ers believe the best is yet to come
Brock Purdy emerged as one of the stories of the season as the final pick of the 2022 Draft but can he lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl?; watch Neil Reynolds and Phoebe Schecter from Pittsburgh as the Steelers host the 49ers, with KO at 6pm Sunday, live on Sky Sports NFL.
Saturday 9 September 2023 17:23, UK
Sometimes a plan comes together, even when it doesn't. As the San Francisco 49ers and Brock Purdy would discover.
The Niners had planned for Trey Lance, and invested hefty capital in said plan. The plan saw them part with three first-round picks in 2021 to trade up to third overall and draft the North Dakota State quarterback with the small sample size but alluring potential, the quarterback with the raw unchiselled skillset but dazzling athletic gifts and arm talent to sparkle in Kyle Shanahan's desired make-them-guess offense.
Purdy had his own plan, a plan to become a starting NFL quarterback, but never quite like this. Two years on from his arrival, Lance is at Dallas Cowboy and it is the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 Draft with the expansive college sample size but modest and less-pay-per-view punch that leads the 49ers into the new season.
What had been an opportunity somewhat gained by default has since evolved into an opportunity earned, by which point all Mr Irrelevant conversation and curiosity has become muffled noise.
- 49ers trade QB Lance to Cowboys | Jones: We feel good about him
- NFL 2023 season live on Sky: Chiefs, 49ers & Dolphins all in action
- Watch the 2023 NFL season and more with NOW
Live NFL
"I try not to get wrapped up in this world of being an NFL player," Purdy told Sky Sports. "And, you know, being a starting quarterback, this and that. For me it's like, I'm human, I mess up.
"I live life just like any other person on this earth. And so, I don't like to think I'm better than this person or that person. It's just what God has me doing for a job. I'm very thankful for it.
"And at the end of the day, I just want to go out and play football and I want to win. I may not be the stereotypical 6'6" quarterback who's throwing the deep ball and doing all this crazy stuff. But I find ways to win and I help. I like to think that I help everyone around me get better."
Lance had been deemed the upgrade to Jimmy Garoppolo's efficient and effective but perhaps haymaker-less contributions in a bid to pilot a Super Bowl-ready offense over the line. He took on the role of rookie understudy while learning from Garoppolo in view of taking the keys the following year, upon which he lasted just two weeks due to a season-ending ankle injury.
Garoppolo himself would later go down injured in the first quarter of the Week 13 matchup against the Miami Dolphins, paving the way for Purdy and his soon-to-be-famed arm to enter the fold before going 5-0 as a starter over the remainder of the regular season.
"Growing up I was a Miami Dolphins fan," Purdy remembers. "My dad's from Florida. I wore number 13 because of Dan Marino. That being my first real game, in terms of, you know, trying to win and everything. It was special to me. But going in, I just wanted to show everyone around me that, 'hey, we're gonna be just fine. I can go and compete and run the plays that coaches call and put up points on the board and win'."
"The first day, you can walk in the locker room, you see all the Super Bowl trophies. You see Joe Montana on the wall. Jerry Rice, Steve Young, and it's like, wow, the history here is rich, you know. And to be here, it's just an honour to be able to wear the Niner logo, it's on another level. So very thankful for it."
In his truncated cameo, Lance had struggled with the enhanced field diagnosis and accuracy that accompanied the transition to facing an NFL defense. In his unforeseen cameo, Purdy looked a seamless fit to Shanahan's system with staggering poise, unerring accuracy and the ability to one-up Garoppolo with some off-script moxie and imagination.
Shanahan got funky with him. In one outing against the Seattle Seahawks he entrusted Purdy to sell a double pump-fake of all things, Ray-Ray McCloud sweeping behind the Niners quarterback and Christian McCaffrey, who in turn split to the outside in checkdown territory at the snap only for a purring Purdy to pump left, pump right and open the Seahawks linebackers like the red sea to leave George Kittle lying in wait of a walk-in touchdown. Blimey, Brock.
If you wanted ball placement you could be referred to his sideline dunk to split Seahawks cornerback Tariq Woolen and safety Quandree Diggs while finding Jauan Jennings after feinting an outside zone run. If you wanted improvisation, you could be referred to his gyrating escape of a near-sack from Bruce Irvin to break free and lift his eyes in time to find Elijah Mitchell for a touchdown. If you wanted timing and release you could be referred to a perfect dart to Kittle on his skinny post route against the Dallas Cowboys after freezing the corner with an expert fake handoff.
In five games the Lance plan had started to deviate. Purdy, coupled with a mammoth McCaffrey effort down the stretch, had rescued potential catastrophe to nestle into fourth in EPA/play among quarterbacks while lifting the 49ers offense into third in EPA/play and steering his side to the postseason.
"I was just thankful, you know? Like, 'Hey, man, a team drafted me.' I don't care if it's the last pick or what but the fact that I had a place to go to compete, learn, and showcase myself, I couldn't have asked for any other kind of opportunity. So I was more thankful for it. And then as we got going, you're going on all these trips for Mr Irrelevant. It's a little annoying hearing people say this and that. But at the end of the day, my family and I were very thankful."
Some resorted to crediting the comfort of the Shanahan offense for Purdy's success by way of its bells-and-whistles motioning and horizontal chess that imposed added stress on a defense. If that were the case, it might be argued why it had not eased Lance's introduction. Purdy, albeit in a crack team of running and receiving demons, was dicing teams up.
"When you're a rookie and you step in, in a time of football where you have to win to get into the playoffs and like you have to keep the streak hot it's really impressive," tight end Kittle tells Sky Sports.
"His first game he steps in, gets hit with a bunch of cover zeros against Miami and completed all those third down cover zero looks and that's not easy by any means. And then he just kept consistently playing at a high level, gets the ball downfield, gets the ball out quick, makes plays with his legs, doesn't have bad turnovers. And we're gonna continue that streak. Thanks, Brock.
"But yeah, he just is a player. It's fun to be out there when he walks in the huddle. He controls the huddle. He gives you confidence in the huddle."
All things considered, the 49ers might have been forgiven for never envisioning a scenario in which they would be despairing over a Purdy injury amid the pursuit of a Super Bowl. But here they were.
Purdy had shrugged off a tumultuous start to throw for 332 yards and three touchdowns in victory over the Seahawks over Wild Card weekend, before leading the Niners beyond the Cowboys in the Divisional Round with a largely blemish-free outing. But here he was in the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles, watching on from the sidelines while clutching his arm having suffered an injury to his throwing elbow on his sixth offensive snap of the game.
Fourth-string quarterback Josh Johnson was in; the Niners and Shanahan were in dismay. The Eagles need only blunt McCaffrey and the run game to book their trip to Arizona, while quarterback pain struck once more.
"That was tough, knowing that we couldn't do anything outside of run the ball," said Purdy. "We just saw the clock ticking down. And we're like, 'this is how we're going out sadly', so motivation.
"It's football, you know, it's not 'oh, man, we're gonna come back and get them and do that', it's part of the game. Yeah, we're gonna take it one day at a time and one week at a time and once we get to them on the calendar, great.
"But, for all of us, we had that taste in our mouth, like, man, we're one game away from the Super Bowl. So we feel like we have the team to do it. And we just got to take it one day at a time."
The frustration in San Francisco is built on the belief they are right there. In McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, Kittle, Kyle Juszczyk and Trent Williams they parade one of the NFL's most diverse potion of offensive punch and pizazz. While on defense lies the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in edge rusher Nick Bosa and the league's arguable best middle linebacker in Fred Warner as cornerstones to a unit that led the league in EPA/play.
The Niners have endured back-to-back defeats at the NFC Championship Game, having been beaten by the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LIV at the end of the 2019 season. So to trust their eggs in the Purdy basket while allowing Lance to pursue a fresh start elsewhere feels telling as to their faith in the Brock party.
"I've had pretty much the same motivation every year," adds Kittle. "I walk in this building every day and there's five Super Bowl trophies lined up there. I walk past him every single day. We play the game to win.
"You know, all the accolades and all that stuff. It is what it is. It's fun. It's fun to be an NFL football player, we play to win. And so yes, I'm very motivated to win, this team is hungry, this team is motivated and it's fun to be a part of an organisation that has won in the past. "We have great players that are of this organisation, we're hungry and we're getting ready to roll."
Strip away the similar but not quite similar story of Kurt Warner, Purdy threatens anomaly potential. History and convention suggests he shouldn't be here, that he shouldn't be as good as he has looked. He sits in the pocket with his sleight frame and not-so-explosive legs and dissects teams with zip and anticipation.
Plan A fell flat. They never imagined reaching Plan P, but here they are. The 49ers' season and immediate future now rests on whether their decision to commit to Plan P was the right one.
For Purdy, he is just beginning to find his feet.
"I think that's definitely how I look at it," he says. "You know, obviously, I don't want it to just be this little thing that I did at the end of the year last year. It's a career that you know, I'm looking forward to, every time I step on the field to give my team a chance to win and bring that competitive fire and edge to our team and you know obviously make a career out of it, so we'll see."
Watch Neil Reynolds and Phoebe Schecter from Pittsburgh as the Steelers host the 49ers, with coverage starting from 4.30pm Sunday ahead of kickoff at 6pm live on Sky Sports NFL. Stream with NOW.
