49ers' Brock Purdy Is No-Brainer On All-Time NFL Draft Ranking

Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy was selected with the No. 262 and final pick in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers.

Like many players picked that late in Day 3 of the Draft, there weren't many high expectations for the rookie or the eventual career arc he would follow.

But just three short years later, look at where we are.

Purdy has become the ultimate underdog. A folk hero. A cult classic. The epitome of a feel-good story.

And his career is still just getting started.

ESPN ranked the best NFL players of all time drafted from each of the 262 spots.

To no surprise, Purdy is the greatest "Mr. Irrelevant" of all time.

"Where else could our exercise end than with Purdy, who is the most famous seventh-round pick in modern history and perhaps ever?," writer Ben Solak said.

"It could end on Jeff Van Note, technically -- an 18-year (wow!) Falcon who made two All-Pro lists at center. But Purdy gets a bump for being the last pick in his draft, whereas Van Note was the 262nd out of 442 selections. I don't know why that matters to me, but it does."

With all due respect to Mr. Van Note and his impressive tenure, Purdy's list of accomplishments just three years since his Draft selection - with limitless possibilities for more - adds to his lore.

Purdy is 23-13 as a starter for the 49ers with 9,518 career passing yards and 64 passing touchdowns. He has earned one Pro Bowl nod and finished in the top 10 of numerous awards ballots after the 2023 season, notably a fourth-place finisher for MVP.

Perhaps his most impressive feats are his playoff success. Purdy led the Niners to two NFC Championship Games in his first two years, the second of which ended with a Super Bowl appearance in his first year as the full-time starter.

It was a storybook start to his career, but things have come back down to reality since the Niners' Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs two seasons ago.

Last year, Purdy's 49ers were mauled by injuries on their way to one of the most disappointing season in recent memory - and certainly of the Purdy Era.

This rare punch of failure for Mr. 262 should spark some serious motivation to succeed, a sense that might only be comparable to the feeling of 261 players getting chosen ahead of him in the 2022 Draft.

Purdy enters this season having just signed a shiny new contract worth $265 million with $182 total in guarantees, $100 mil of which was guaranteed at signing. The deal is the richest contract in 49ers franchise history.

Regardless of how the 2025 season plays out, Brock Purdy has already done plenty to prove his relevancy.