San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is off to arguably the best start of his NFL career, and the league is starting to take real notice.
49ers Quarterback Brock Purdy’s Numbers Through Two Weeks
Through two games, Purdy has thrown for 492 yards, five touchdowns and just one interception, while completing a league-best 80.8 percent of his passes and averaging 8.8 yards per attempt. He’s currently first in the NFL in QBR, first in completion percentage, and hasn’t taken a single sack despite facing pressure 15 times. His completion rate would look even better if not for four drops, and he’s completed at least 80 percent of his passes regardless of whether he’s been blitzed or not.
Purdy’s decision-making has stood out just as much as the raw numbers. Turnover-worthy plays had been the primary knock on his game earlier in his four-year career, but that issue has largely disappeared as he’s taken on more offensive responsibility this season.
Orlovsky Breaks Down What Makes Purdy Special
Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky went in-depth this week explaining exactly why Purdy has separated himself from the rest of the league. “There’s no quarterback in the NFL playing football the way that Brock Purdy is right now,” Orlovsky said. “As fast as you can be up top and as calm and almost as slow as you can be neck down.”
Orlovsky broke down specific plays to illustrate his point, highlighting Purdy’s ability to anticipate coverage rotations and find open space rather than relying purely on reading individual defenders. On one particular throw to George Kittle, Orlovsky detailed how Purdy identified a soft spot in the defense created by a dropped coverage before the release even happened. On another play, Orlovsky described Purdy delivering a ball to fullback Kyle Juszczyk not because he specifically saw Juszczyk, but because he recognized the vacated space between defenders. “This is not normal,” Orlovsky said of the process behind it.
Orlovsky closed his breakdown with a broader point about where Purdy currently stands relative to the rest of the league’s top quarterbacks. “Josh Allen’s playing remarkable football, and there’s a lot of quarterbacks playing a high level,” Orlovsky said. “Nobody is playing the way that Brock Purdy is.”
— Dan Orlovsky
Dan does a great breakdown on how well Brock sees the field 🔥
🎥: @ESPNNFL
Purdy’s Early MVP Case
Two games is admittedly a small sample, but Purdy has quickly become the central reason the 49ers look like a legitimate contender early this season. With his combination of accuracy, anticipation and turnover avoidance, he’s putting himself firmly into the early conversation for MVP.
49ers’ Brock Purdy Gets Strong Verdict From Former NFL Quarterback