San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has played at a stunningly high level that continues to confound those who have trouble fathoming how he wasn’t selected earlier than the final pick in the NFL draft.
And now the second-year player is doing more than just leading the 49ers to the top of the NFC. Brock Purdy’s numbers have qualified him to be mentioned among some of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.
Purdy, the “Mr. Irrelevant” of the 2022 draft, has started 18 regular-season games for the 49ers since last season and has had a QB passer rating of 100 or better in 12 games.
That ties Purdy with two Hall of Famers, Dan Marino and Kurt Warner, for the second-most starts with at least a 100 rating in a quarterback’s first 18 career games. According to NFL research, the only quarterback to exceed 12 starts with a 100 rating was Patrick Mahomes with 14.
By the way, Brock Purdy wears No. 13 in honor of Marino, who was his and his father’s favorite quarterback when he was growing up in Gilbert, Ariz.
Brock Purdy stands above the rest
Not only has Brock Purdy matched some all-time NFL legends, he’s also defeated at least one. Exactly one year ago, Purdy made his debut as a starting quarterback and earned his first victory against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
One year later, Purdy has led the 49ers to a 10-3 record and has emerged as the odds-on favorite to win the NFL MVP award with only four weeks left in the regular season.
He leads all NFL quarterbacks in most of the significant stats, including completion percentage (70.2), yards per attempt (9.9), touchdown percentage (7.0), QBR (74.7) and QB rating (116.9).
At the moment Purdy’s closest competition for the NFL MVP award is Dak Prescott, but Purdy ranks above ahead of the Dallas Cowboys quarterback by just about every meaningful measure.
It also helps that Purdy has head-to-head victories this season over both Prescott and Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles, two games in which he played some of his best football with eight combined TD passes and zero interceptions as the 49ers won both games by more than three touchdowns.
Purdy, who turns 24 on Dec. 27, threw for a career-high 368 yards and two touchdowns in the 49ers’ 28-16 victory Sunday over the Seattle Seahawks. The victory, coupled with the Dallas Cowboys’ 33-13 defeat of the Philadelphia Eagles, moved the 49ers into the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Overall, it was just another workday for Purdy, who arrived at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday looking like he was on his way to a college class.
Brock Purdy has 49ers in NFC driver’s seat
The 49ers have won five consecutive games heading into their Week 15 matchup at Arizona, and now that they own the No. 1 seed, they control their own playoff destiny.
After the Cardinals, San Francisco has a Christmas Day showdown against the AFC-leading Baltimore Ravens, following games against the Washington Commanders and the Los Angeles Rams.
As long as Brock Purdy continues to show up each Sunday and play at an MVP level, the San Francisco 49ers will remain the No. 1 team in the NFL and the betting Super Bowl favorites.