San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy. Morgan Tencza-USA TODAY Sports

Another analyst compares 49ers' Brock Purdy to Joe Montana

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 11/21/23

Former NFL head coach and current football analyst Mike Martz recently compared San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback Brock Purdy to club legend and Hall of Famer Joe Montana.

Well-known NFL analyst Brian Baldinger followed in Martz's footsteps during a conversation with Joe Shasky from San Francisco sports radio station 95.7 The Game.

"Like, you go out and shake Joe Montana's hand back in the day, there's nothing that wows you about Joe except the way that he played the game and the fact that he never felt pressure," Baldinger explained, per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone. "And if you need to go have a game-winning Super Bowl drive in the final two minutes, he could be looking at John Candy on the sideline. All that stuff is legendary right now, but maybe that's what we're looking at because you shake [Purdy's] hand, he might have the smallest hands I've ever shook from a quarterback. And then you look at his frame, he doesn't have a big frame."

After Purdy completed 21-of-25 passes for 333 yards with three touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating in this past Sunday's 27-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, head coach Kyle Shanahan mentioned that the 23-year-old's arm is "definitely stronger than what we thought it was when" San Francisco selected Purdy with the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.

While Purdy may not have all the physical traits possessed by recent Most Valuable Player Award winners such as Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson, Baldinger noted the second-year pro has already made believers out of his teammates.

"They know they're playing with an elite player," Baldinger added about Purdy and the 49ers. "They know it. And so the outside noise is, 'He can't throw the deep. Oh, his arm strength. Oh, he's a product of the system.' It's like just white noise to them right now."

According to ESPN stats, Purdy enters Week 12 leading the NFL among qualified players with a 77.0 adjusted QBR, a 115.1 passer rating and an average of 9.7 yards per pass attempt on the season. He's thus far tossed 18 touchdown passes and five interceptions for the 7-3 Niners.

As of Tuesday afternoon, oddschecker listed the 49ers as 6.5-point favorites for the upcoming Thursday night game at the 6-4 Seattle Seahawks.

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