San Francisco 49ers fans have had to get used to the same old critiques about quarterback Brock Purdy over the years. When he had success in 2023, many said it was because of the playmakers around him rather than his own skill.
Thankfully, that chatter has died down a little bit, but analysts are still not giving him his due.
Chris Simms of NBC has been ranking all the NFL quarterbacks, and he put Purdy at No. 17.
Here is some of what he said about Purdy:
“He is that kind of guy and I don’t want to say he’s system, because people get triggered by that. He’s system plus. He can do more with more, but he’s not gonna do more with less. I don’t think he’s gonna be the guy that’s gonna carry the team and do all that.”
It’s a strange thing to say because Purdy has had to deal with a lot of players getting hurt or not having his best players at his disposal in recent seasons. 2024 was a rough injury-plagued year, and while Purdy didn't put up 2023-like numbers, he still played well enough for San Francisco to give him a big contract extension after the season.
Although he was banged up and missed basically half of 2025, Purdy played quite well when healthy. It’s important to remember his best wide receiver last season was Jauan Jennings. That’s not a knock on Jennings, but Purdy lost both Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk and still showed he can be an above-average NFL quarterback as his floor. Not to mention, both tight end George Kittle and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall missed time due to injury.
Simms isn’t the only analyst who has given Purdy a backhanded compliment. ESPN analyst Ben Solak said the following after he and Mina Kimes ranked Purdy No. 15 among NFL quarterbacks:
“I have always appreciated Purdy’s game. Limits are very clear, because he is so reliant on Kyle [Shanahan] getting the first read open… once you start to fool him, he will throw himself into some terrible, terrible interceptions.”
These are fair points, and anyone who claims that Purdy is completely infallible or is unquestionably the best quarterback in the NFL (cough, cough, David Lombardi) is not based in reality. Yet, there still seems to be this sort of bias against Purdy since he is coached by Shanahan. Kimes also noted the fact Mac Jones came in and played so well in Purdy's relief could actually be used as evidence to ding the latter a little bit.
But when Purdy came back and was healthy, and the offense was really humming, he was playing some of the best football Niners fans have seen him play. Those two consecutive weeks against the Tennessee Titans and Chicago Bears saw him go off and play nearly flawlessly as he Dougied his way to two victories.
Purdy can still grow and get better, and he can throw some bad interceptions and has struggled against elite defenses. But that’s the case with any other quarterback. Analysts are at least giving him a bit more credit after he won without all his weapons last year, but Purdy may have to do something really special for analysts to fully come around on him as “elite.”
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