49ers news: Brock Purdy draft story, Kyle Shanahan is pissed off

Let’s take a look at some notable 49ers news, including the story behind drafting Brock Purdy and how angry Kyle Shanahan got at the Seahawks last weekend.

If there has ever been an argument in favor of getting rid of the “Mr. Irrelevant” moniker associated with being the final pick of the NFL Draft, San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Brock Purdy is making it.

Purdy’s rapid ascent from a relative unknown to being one of the hottest topics amid the Niners’ current playoff run is pretty epic.

And, considering how 31 other teams passed on Purdy multiple times in the draft, one can look at San Francisco finally taking a flier on him as an extremely fortunate development. Especially considering its two previous quarterbacks, Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, are both shelved with injuries.

More importantly, though, Purdy has seized the moment and then some.

The course of events leading from Purdy’s selection in the draft to becoming the 49ers’ next high-profile quarterback is pretty notable, too.

John Lynch describes the story behind 49ers drafting Brock Purdy

General manager John Lynch joined 95.7 The Game’s The Morning Roast with Bonta and Shasky show this week, and it’s no surprise the topic of Purdy showed up.

And while Purdy’s on-field efforts have garnered the most attention, Lynch added a nice little nugget by discussing why the Niners ultimately used the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft on the former Iowa State signal-caller:

"We thought he’d come out [after] his junior year. He probably played a little bit better his junior year, and our grades were a little bit higher. He goes back for one more year, and then prior to the draft, Kyle [Shanahan] and I were sitting down and we said, “Look, we’d really like to come out of this draft with a young quarterback late in the draft whether it be a late draft choice or a free agent.”We had some other things we had to get for our roster that we needed. But, man, it’d be nice to come out with a guy we really like and want to invest some time into late."

Lynch then described how they provided quarterbacks coach Brian Griese with a list of eight to 10 prospects, and the final conclusion ended up being focused on Purdy.

You can listen to the full interview below:

“We think we have Purdy as a free agent,” Lynch added. “But why wait on that?”

As such, the Niners grabbed Purdy at No. 262 overall. And it’s a good thing they did, as Purdy is now thriving at the helm of one of the more dangerous offenses in the NFL right now.

Related Story: LeBron James is the latest to hop aboard Brock Purdy hype train

Joe Staley describes how Kyle Shanahan got pissed off at Seahawks

Purdy had quite the performance during San Francisco’s 41-23 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Wild Card weekend, accounting for four touchdowns, three of which were through the air.

However, things got a little chippy during the game, and that might not be overly surprising given the NFC West rivalry. But, following a dirty play by Seahawks safety Johnathan Abram in which he tried twisting wide receiver Deebo Samuel‘s leg after a play was blown dead, a midfield scuffle was only going to result.

Shanahan wasn’t pleased either, making his opinion known to both the Seahawks and the officials.

But the best breakdown of Shanahan’s actions might come from 49ers legend Joe Staley, who described his perspective in an appearance on KNBR 680 this week:

“Once I saw him walk out there on the field and then give a hard bump of the shoulder to one of the players out there,” Staley said of Shanahan, “I told everyone at our house, I was like, ‘alright, here comes six straight runs, and on the next series, they’re going to go first down, first down, shot.'”

That’s precisely what happened, as the above video breaks down.

“Kyle gets into these modes sometimes when he gets pissed off,” Staley added.

Perhaps that’s why the Niners didn’t have any trouble running up the score en route to the final victory and elimination of a hated rival.

And there could easily be some more storylines of the sort when San Francisco hosts the Dallas Cowboys for the divisional round this weekend.