Another day, another preseason snub for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy. It appears the NFL is set on underrating the fifth-year passer as the red and gold enter the new season.
ESPN is the latest to jump on the bandwagon with their list of top-10 quarterbacks, and a few of the selections they have placed ahead of Purdy borders on laughable. While there are many field generals who are worthy of consideration, pundits have conveniently forgotten one key factor when determining who stands out amongst their peers.
Players like Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Justin Herbert, and Caleb Williams all cracked ESPN's ranking. The four have one key commanlity: they possess little to no postseason success.
Purdy, on the other hand, brought his team to the Super Bowl in just his second year. In that year, he finished fourth in MVP voting and made his first Pro Bowl appearance. Since then, he has had one subpar year and another shortened by injury.
Rivaling QBs possess same red flags as Brock Purdy without the success
Though it isn't much consolation, Purdy was listed as an honorable mention on the page. But the Niners' franchise player has valid arguments to leapfrog as little as four of the top-10 members.
First, Prescott is slotted at No. 6 overall. On top of only ever winning two playoff games (Purdy had won four by his sophomore year), Prescott has one of the league's most prolific wide-receiver tandems in Ceedee Lamb and George Pickens. Add in tight end Jake Ferguson to boot, and Prescott is spoiled with one of the league's best offense units around him. The possession of such a talented roster has been one of the league's biggest knocks against Purdy.
Justin Herbert, who comes in at No. 7, has never won a playoff game in his six-year career. In fact, the Chargers' passer didn't win over 10 games until Jim Harbaugh took over and turned the offense into a run-first operation. It was only then that Herbert secured consecutive 11-win seasons.
Goff at No. 9 might be the most egregious. Potentially, no quarterback has been as blessed with offensive weapons as the Lions QB. Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and others have provided Goff with an unlimited supply of firepower. He has indeed taken a team to the Super Bowl (seven years ago), but he missed last year's postseason and lost in the divisional round the year before. In 2023, he was defeated at the hands of Purdy and the 49ers.
Lastly, Caleb Williams rounded out the list. It took Williams two seasons and one coaching change to go from potentially historic draft bust to a promising young playmaker. Apparently, one semi-successful season and one playoff win is all it takes to be considered more valuable than Brock Purdy, who by the way, also won a playoff game in what was considered a "down" year in 2025.
In short, it appears that Purdy will just have to continue leading the 49ers to the postseason year after year. With new offensive weapons and healthy veterans, 2026 could be his best year yet. Whether he cracks next year's list, though, still may be up for debate, considering the irrational list of names that triumphed over him this year.
Add us as a preferred source on Google