Brock Party: Purdy Success Fuels Teammates, Angers Critics

What The Film Says

Outside of cat-quick scanning and progressions, Purdy throws the ball with confidence, accuracy and velocity. Granted, occasionally he will throw into too tight of a window, his passes find the receivers in-stride and open, leading to bigger gains. Also, Purdy will make plays with his feet. Granted, he will not set records in the 40, but he runs well enough to separate and gain yards, as evidenced by the fifteen first downs he gained on rushing attempts. If you look at the technique, you will see not only an easily repeatable motion but a snap to the release that generates intermediate velocity to throw between defenders.

Why Do People Dislike Him?

In a regular world, seventh-round picks do not supplant high draft picks and monied free agents. Yet, Brock Purdy kept that job based on his ability, production and teammates support. By living a rather mundane off-field existence, the hot take media has zero use for him. They want the soundbite, a talking point used to gain clicks and downloads. In all honesty, Purdy’s press conferences are not entertaining and deriving any usable content from him is difficult. By having a dearth of swag, many in the media jumping on dismissing him as a product of the system. They do have hours to fill on TV. Think they use this approach.

What System?

Ask any casual fan, what specifically do the San Francisco 49ers run on offense. The San Francisco 49ers run a West Coast Offense with tons of outside zone and more of a vertical element. Remember who the head coach’s father is closely associated with. Yet, San Francisco loves to attack vertically, behind play-action, pre-snap motion and the RPO. All of the aforementioned aspects create mismatches. Purdy’s job is to spot the mismatches and make the good, aggressive throw. Up front, the use of the combo block to wall off defenders creates running lanes. Meanwhile, in the passing game, Purdy and the Niners destroy defenses over the middle of the field. With motion or playaction, that drives the linebacker up and out of position. Ever notice how everyone, including the fullback gets constantly loose where the defense vacated?

Team Effort

Another lazy take is that the San Francisco 49ers succeed in spite of Purdy and because of the assembled talent. Jimmy Garoppolo enjoyed much of the same talent, buttressed by a strong defense, how did that work out? Trey Lance was specifically drafted to replace Garoppolo. Four starts and a 54.9 completion percentage failed to impress. Yet, Purdy succeeds with much of the same and even the backups. Jauan Jennings isn’t a household name, but when the top five or six options aren’t firing on all cylinders, he will make a clutch grab. Quarterbacks need talent around them to win. Period. Tom Brady and Phil Simms own Super Bowl rings, despite throwing to short, not-fast-but-quick wideouts. There are no special rings for playing with less talent. Throw to who you have.

Whataboutism

Critics want to harp on the three-game stretch where Purdy and the Niners lost each game. They also want to repeatedly bring up the crushing loss to Baltimore. Purdy played terribly and the other teams capitalized on his egregious mistakes. It happens. The problem lies with fans and media that swim in the pool of recency bias and have the attention span of a dragonfly. Ten wins versus 2023 playoffs team mean something. Two comeback victories in the last two playoff games count for a great deal. Your favorite TV talking head is probably still hung up on the losses. Do your own research.

Overview

Brock Purdy plays well, throws a good ball, makes few mistakes and wins. More importantly, he leads the entire team. Both offense and defense vociferously support him in all aspects. Brock Purdy is better than Jimmy Garoppolo will ever be. He makes this throw, if placed in a similar situation. While the world wants flash and style, Brock Purdy is Billy Hoyle. The Niners are four away from a championship. Their fate lays in his hands.