Brock Purdy had major role in Joshua Dobbs' decision to sign with the San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers will have two of the stories of the 2023 season in their quarterback room for the 2024 season.

San Francisco last month signed Joshua Dobbs to a one-year deal, giving them a backup to Brock Purdy after seeing Sam Darnold exit and sign with the Minnesota Vikings.

Dobbs was one of the cult heroes of the 2023 campaign. He stunned the NFL world by winning successive games for the Minnesota Vikings on short notice after being traded from the Arizona Cardinals, his first coming against the Atlanta Falcons just five days after the trade, starter Jaren Hall had been knocked out of the game.

Dobbs' excitement for new opportunity

Though he could not sustain his hot start with the Vikings, landing a backup who has proven he can win games with little time to prepare was an astute move by the 49ers, who will hope they can go one better with Purdy than they did last season. Purdy delivered MVP-caliber production but he and the Niners fell agonizingly short of winning Super Bowl 58 in an overtime defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs.

And Dobbs is relishing the chance to work with Purdy, labeling him as one of the key reasons why he signed with San Francisco.

"When free agency came, the opportunities that were presented—the biggest thing that I wanted, as I said, was to get to a place that has a consistent front office, consistent coaching staff, and does a really good job of QB development, and have an opportunity to go through a full offseason in one scheme," Dobbs said on The Adam Schefter Podcast. 

"Get in there in April, and even though I'm still learning, and it will be learning a new offense, but it's an offense that's obviously very prominent throughout the league. And so to be able to get there in April and be around some tremendous coaches and learn the offense from the bare bones of it, and throw routes on air, and build those interpersonal opportunities with teammates. 

"And then be able to go into the season and whatever the role looks like in the room—obviously, Brock is balling, and what they did, coming up two times short in the Super Bowl the last four years is amazing. But to be a part of that culture, in that franchise, I'm really excited."

Respect for Purdy

"We played him in Arizona, and that's why I respected him so much," Dobbs added of Purdy, before going on to dismiss the tired notion that the 49ers starter's success is primarily a result of his stacked supporting cast.

"Now, he does have a great cast, but at the end of the day, he has to be the decision-maker and the driving force of the offense, and the way he makes good decisions, takes care of the football and plays just efficient, clean football. 

"Like, he might not go out there and make the wild play all the time, but he's going to go out there and put his team in a great position to be successful. And that's what you have to do, especially in the [Kyle] Shanahan offense, and then obviously, especially when you have some really good weapons around you. And so that's why I've respected seeing how he's been able to quickly do that from the first year, getting thrown into the fire, because I know what that feels like. 

"And then being able to go to the NFC Championship Game, be one injury away from going to the Super Bowl, and then go to the Super Bowl the next year in the midst of, obviously, all the people trying to say he's a game manager, yada, yada, yada.

"At the end of the day, he wins football games and he plays efficient football. That's all you can ask for. So that's what I'm most excited about, just being able to obviously provide my perspective on what I've learned throughout the league and be able to assume whatever role that looks like this upcoming year. But to be around that and that coaching and that type of player and that type of room and that consistency, I think it'd be really good for me, and I'm excited to see what I'll be able to add and help the team with for this upcoming year."