San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is on an unprecedented run to start the 2026 campaign. Having fully entrenched himself in the MVP conversation, Purdy is reaching new heights seemingly every week.
The latest talk is something fans are not used to, as Fox's Colin Cowherd spoke on Purdy's performance against the Denver Broncos. He used it as an opportunity to compare the Niners' gunslinger to his opposition, Bo Nix, and his shortcomings thus far in his career.
"Everything with Bo Nix looks hard... It looks so easy for Brock Purdy. Quarterbacks are like musicians. You either can play the instrument or you can't," Cowherd said.
49ers' Brock Purdy might be the league's new benchmark quarterback
His sentiments are not off the mark, evidenced by Purdy's historic start to the year, but they also highlight a new phenomenon that might become a common trend if the franchise QB continues his torrid pace.
Brock Purdy may just become the measuring stick that all other quarterbacks are held to. In the clip, the pundit used Purdy as a reason why the Broncos' quarterback is simply not the answer for the franchise. The crazy part is he's not wrong. Nix has been making the position look hard, especially when Purdy, in comparison, has been playing so effortlessly.
The Iowa State product was drafted with the last pick of the NFL draft back in 2021, yet he leads the league's MVP conversation six years later. There has to be a reason for it other than combine measurables, and Cowherd hit the nail on the head in his "musician" analogy. Many people can play the guitar, but few can actually feel the ebbs and flows of the music. There is a difference between those who read the sheet music and those who play by feel. Purdy is showing he is the latter.
Bo Nix is hardly the last QB to fail the Brock Purdy measurement test
Nix might be one of the first QBs to fall victim to this new comparison, but will hardly be the last. Darnold might endure a similar scenario if he gets bested by the San Francisco QB next week.
Other young quarterbacks that could be subjected to the same scrutiny when they play the 49ers are Jayden Daniels, Michael Penix, and Justin Herbert, all of whom will likely fail in comparison, assuming Purdy continues his hot streak.
If NFL pundits keep using Brock Purdy as the league's latest measuring stick, he will enter a threshold few others have entered. Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning, to name a few, have all been labeled as the "gold standard" of quarterbacks at some point in time, and Purdy, though not there yet, is quickly trending in that direction.
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