Analyst reveals why he believes in 49ers' Brock Purdy ahead of playoffs

Add former player and current NFL analyst Brian Baldinger to the list of people not worried about San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Brock Purdy ahead of the playoffs. 

"He was 15-of-20 [passing] last week," Baldinger said of Purdy's performance in this past Sunday's 38-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals during a Tuesday appearance on San Francisco radio station 95.7 The Game, per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone. "He threw three of those 15 completions for touchdowns. I don't know if any of them were the first read. I think he's getting better."

Purdy was called into action for more than mop-up duty when Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a broken foot back on Dec. 4. The last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft has since gone 5-0 as a starter, and Baldinger noted he's "watched every throw" the first-year pro has made while serving as San Francisco's QB1. 

"We haven't seen them burn any timeouts," Baldinger said of Purdy running the offense under head coach Kyle Shanahan. "We haven't seen them not get lined up correctly. I could point out a couple of protection breakdowns. Sometimes that's his fault. Sometimes it's the line's fault. But they've been few and far between. He usually gets out of harm's way." 

Teammates have widely praised Purdy since early last month, and Hall of Famer Joe Montana insisted at that time the 49ers could win Super Bowl LVII with the 23-year-old under center. San Francisco star tight end George Kittle recently campaigned for Purdy to receive Offensive Rookie of the Year votes even though the signal-caller played in just nine regular-season contests. 

Across his nine games and five starts, Purdy completed 67.1% of 170 pass attempts for 1,374 yards with 13 touchdowns and four interceptions. According to Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus, Purdy's 107.3 passer rating led all players with at least 150 dropbacks this season.

Purdy helped the 49ers earn a 21-13 win at the Seattle Seahawks in Week 15 on Dec. 15. Those clubs will meet again at San Francisco's Levi's Stadium for a wild-card playoff game this coming Saturday. 

"There's some things the second time around, maybe, like a hitter, going to see the pitcher for the second time, maybe they're a little bit better," Baldinger admitted about the Seahawks having additional knowledge about Purdy heading into this weekend. 

For a piece published Tuesday morning, ESPN's Nick Wagoner mentioned that nine individuals defined as backup quarterbacks have led their teams to championships since the NFL-American Football League merger in 1970.