Iowa State Alum Brock Purdy Facing One Major Weakness Entering 2025

Now that former Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy has a big new contract, scrutiny of his performance is only going to grow. 

The 2022 Mr. Irrelevant has made his name in the NFL by winning. While that’s the only thing that matters in the sport, especially at his position, it’s only half the battle when grappling for position among the NFL’s elite teams and quarterbacks.

Purdy isn’t quite paid like the Josh Allens, Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jacksons of the football world, but his franchise is contending with them for championship opportunities. What separates them as quarterbacks can often be the difference in the outcome of critical games.

According to CBS Sports’ Douglas Clawson, closing the gap on those elite talents and justifying his five-year, $265 million contract comes down to how Purdy performs in tight games. While Purdy has made his mark as a game manager who wins more often than not, his performance when tied or trailing leaves something to be desired.

Clawson pointed out one critical statline that proves Purdy still has a ways to go in his development: “He has nine touchdown passes and 15 interceptions in his career when tied or trailing in the second half and overtime, compared with 61 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions in all other situations.”

No qualifying NFL quarterback (280+ attempts) has a worse TD-INT ratio than Purdy in this scenario since 2022.

The San Francisco 49ers have been built to play with a lead since head coach Kyle Shanahan joined the team and revitalized the roster and scheme. Of course, the franchise hasn’t exactly employed the most dynamic quarterbacks during his tenure, including Purdy. Still, the scheme is notoriously quarterback-friendly, and Purdy’s proven himself to be a solid game manager.

Purdy is right not to totally take that as an insult. Quarterbacks who lose games in the first quarter don’t last. Quarterbacks who lose games in the fourth quarter tend to get a longer leash, but eventually, it’ll snap.

Still, the former Cyclone is young and burst onto the scene before truly developing into a complete NFL starter. The next step in Purdy’s progression is learning from these mistakes and stacking a few fourth-quarter comebacks. He only has two, one in his rookie season and one last year. He didn’t have one in 2023 when the Niners went 12-4 in his first full season as the starter.