San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has drawn comparisons to Joe Montana for years now. Legendary San Francisco tight end Brent Jones just compared the two and said that Purdy reminds him of Montana in some key ways.
Jones appeared on Guy Haberman's podcast and provided some insight into what common traits Purdy and Montana share:
49ers Legend Brent Jones explains why Joe Montana was special and which of Joe's traits he sees in Brock Purdy:
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) July 7, 2025
"You don't have to have the strongest arm in the NFL. Purdy's arm is plenty strong, but Joe wasn't John Elway or Jim Kelly or Dan Marino, but he's the one with all the… pic.twitter.com/EBq2bqOmK6
The four-time Pro Bowler talked about how neither Purdy nor Montana had the strongest arm or the most impressive physical attributes when compared to their peers. Yet, both were able to make up for that with their accuracy and their ability to read oppoisng defenses.
Purdy has always stood out for his ability to beat opponents with his brain and his anticipation rather than just his physicality. While it is great to have a cannon of an arm, it is more important to have an awareness of the whole field and an ability to look off a defender or make a well-anticipated throw before a receiver is even out of his break.
Jones played with the 49ers in the 1988 and 1989 seasons, so he got a front row seat to what made Montana so special as he led San Francisco to Super Bowl titles both of those campaigns.
The fact Jones sees some commonalities between Purdy and Montana is a great sign because the 49ers are hoping that Purdy can become the third quarterback to lead San Francisco to a Super Bowl.
Through his first two seasons, Purdy's stats compared quite favorably to both Montana and Steve Young, which speaks to just how incredible Purdy was those first two seasons. Of course, the Iowa State product had a tougher time in 2024 but part of that can be blamed on the fact that he was missing a lot of his key weapons.
Montana himself offered Purdy some free advice towards the end of last season, saying he felt Purdy was forcing the issue a little too much when he should have been more content to trust his play-makers.
Despite this, Montana was also adamant that the Niners should pay Purdy which is exactly what they did by signing him to a five-year, $265 million extension.
Right now, Purdy finds himself along the likes of Colin Kaepernick and Jimmy Garoppolo as good 49ers quarterbacks who got the team to the Super Bowl but were not able to get them over the hump.
He is hoping he can join the pantheon of Niners greats like Montana and Young by leading the team to the sixth Lombardi Trophy in its history. Brent Jones thinks Purdy has a little bit of Montana in him, so let's hope he can follow through on that prophecy.