49ers roster 2023: Everyone says Brock Purdy is the 'real deal,' but is he?

Does Brock Purdy deserve all the hype?

Hall of Famer Steve Young had an interesting Star Wars-kind of comparison for Brock Purdy that he shared with NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco recently:

"There’s a processing. I call it "the Force" -- a Star Wars analogy. Obi-Wan Kenobi. It’s something you can’t describe. It’s just someone has the force.

Quarterbacking is that way. When I see someone who has ‘the Force,’ I don’t know how to tell you all the intricacies at what makes that. You can just tell. Brock had it so thick. It’s like Luke Skywalker -- right away, he had it."

Even future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers told The Pat McAfee Show that Purdy has a "moxie" that is associated with not being a "blue-chipper" kind of player.

Few would question Young and Rodgers' takes on Purdy. But is it legitimate? Or are the two merely getting caught up in the moment?

Purdy was the final pick of the 2022 draft for a number of legitimate reasons, and it's not hard to comb through pre-draft scouting reports and find questions about his arm strength, downfield accuracy, decision-making skills and so on.

But, as Rodgers pointed out, Hall of Famer Joe Montana and future Hall of Famer Tom Brady were passed over time and time again.

Maybe the draft means nothing.

That said, Purdy can only respond by backing up his 2022 efforts with even more over the course of the upcoming 2023 season. And it sure helps that he's on a loaded 49ers team, because as one NFL coach told The Athletic's Mike Sando (h/t 49ers Webzone), "You put him on any other team and they lose more than half the games."

Perhaps. But Purdy isn't on "any other team."

And he isn't getting paid a lot either. Let's break that down next.