49ers rookie review: Brock Purdy SZN

© Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports - FINALLY Purdy hits Jennings on a shot play. That's a 33-yard pickup. The 49ers have tried two other times to get Jennings a deep throw and that time Purdy fit it into a tight window. - PURDY! Wow! He nearly took a sack, escaped, then found a wide open Elijah Mitchell for an easy TD. That was some unbelievable improvisation from the rookie signal caller. Purdy then connected with Kittle on the two-point conversion and San Francisco is up 31-17. This is a tremendous bounce-back from Purdy. - This is big. A holding call followed by a false start put Seattle in a first-and-25. The 49ers will tee off in these spots. - Scary play for the 49ers' defense. Metcalf got a step on Ward, but Smith overthrew him thanks to a little bit of pressure in his face. - NIGHT NIGHT. 74 yards for Deebo Samuel and the 49ers are up three scores. That's the play Samuel has been close to breaking multiple times. He's up to 133 receiving yards and the 49ers are ROLLING. - Deommodore Lenoir! He's been picked on all game, but this time he steps in front of WR Tyler Lockett for an interception! That's the second takeaway of the game, and that should just about do it from Levi's Stadium. Awesome to see from Lenoir who had a couple rough weeks to end the season. Now he should send the 49ers to the divisional round. - Purdy!!! He bought all sorts of time, faked out defenders, and then drilled a dime into Brandon Aiyuk in the back of the end zone, but Aiyuk flat out dropped it. The 49ers kicked another field goal, but that would've been an iconic 49ers play if it goes for a TD. - Seattle is moving the ball some late in the fourth, but the 49ers have pulled a bunch of their defensive starters. - Another sack for Omenihu. If the 49ers are gonna get another huge playoffs from him, their defense is in a great spot. - Metcalf gets in the end zone again inside of two minutes left. The fact Seattle had such a hard time finding pay dirt against the 49ers backups is wild. They failed the two-point conversion to keep it a 41-23 49ers lead. Final score: 49ers 41, Seahawks 23

It’s early, but Brock Purdy is on track to be perhaps the most valuable draft pick in 49ers history. This isn’t to say he’ll be as good as Joe Montana (a third-round selection) or anything like that, but landing a potential franchise quarterback with the final pick in the draft is the stuff team-building dreams are made of.

Purdy was chosen with the No. 262 overall pick with the hope he’d survive camp and the preseason before taking over as the practice squad quarterback. Nate Sudfeld was on track to be the backup QB to Trey Lance. Then Jimmy Garoppolo re-signed and Purdy started performing well and eventually became so valuable that the team couldn’t let him go and released Sudfeld (who they guaranteed $2 million to in the offseason) instead.

The choice paid off in a big way beginning in Week 13 when Garoppolo broke his foot and Purdy took over in the first quarter. He guided the 49ers to a 33-17 win in that game. Then he guided them to another win, and another, and another. San Francisco went 6-0 in that stretch to close the regular season while Purdy completed 68.2 percent completion rate with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions. The 49ers also started ripping off 30-plus points per game.

Purdy’s run as the 49ers’ starter, which included a pair of playoff wins, appeared to line him up as the team’s franchise signal caller. A torn UCL in the NFC championship game threw a wrench into that plan though.

Now the door is open for Lance to get all the QB1 reps in the offseason and through camp. He may even be the starter to begin the 2023 season depending on Purdy’s recovery timeline.

Then there’s the question of how Purdy looks in a more extended sample size. Was his run as the starter a matter of being new to the league, or was it a sign of things to come?

Ideally for San Francisco it would be the latter. If it is, they may have hit on the single greatest NFL draft find in team (NFL?) history.

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