LAS VEGAS — Second-year San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is slated to lead his team into Super Bowl LVIII against Patrick Mahomes and the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs.
For Purdy, it’s been a long road to the game’s grandest of stages. He was Mr. Irrelevant as the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. It took injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo for Purdy to earn the starting job as a rookie last season. He ultimately led San Francisco to the NFC Championship Game before being injured early in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Despite all of this, Purdy continues to face some criticism. Talking heads call him a “game manager.” Others believe he’s a product of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offensive system and the 49ers’ talent at the skill positions.
This is absolutely ridiculous. Every quarterback needs a good coach and talent around him to succeed. It really does seem as if Purdy is simply a product of being such a late pick.
Former NFL quarterback Chris Simms sat down with us from the site of the Super Bowl in Vegas on Thursday, and seemed to echo this sentiment. The current NBC Sports analyst backed Purdy in every possible way.
“Yeah, I mean, Purdy’s been phenomenal. You know, I think the criticism is a little crazy. It’s amazing what he’s doing. It’s not Josh Allen or Mahomes or Lamar Jackson. It’s never going to be. Get over it. Joe Montana wasn’t John Elway. He wasn’t Brett Favre. He (was) still awesome,” Simms told us.
Quarterbacks certainly have different play styles. Allen, Mahomes and Jackson might be more dynamic. But none of those three “more elite” quarterbacks were as efficient as Purdy in 2023.
The former Iowa State star led the NFL in touchdown percentage, yards per attempt, yards per completion and quarterback rating en route to finding himself as an NFL MVP finalist.
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Former NFL QB Chris Simms talks Brock Purdy’s skill-set leading up to Super Bowl LVIII
“You know, there’s gifts that Brock Purdy has as far as reading defenses, taking all Shanahan’s information, his feel, instincts, anticipation and his rhythm, that other good quarterbacks in football that I go … they’re not as good as Brock Purdy in that department,” Simms said.
Intangibles. Those are not something that are easy to teach. For the most part, you either have them or you don’t. Some recent first-round busts such as Zach Wilson of the New York Jets have already proven that they don’t have those.
Purdy has a chance to prove naysayers wrong come Sunday against a two-time NFL and Super Bowl MVP in that of Patrick Mahomes. If he is able to do that, there is a good chance that Purdy will lead the 49ers to their sixth Lombardi Trophy while etching his name in franchise lore.
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The pressure is on. But Purdy has proven early in his career that pressure really doesn’t matter.
As for Simms’ comments, it’s not all great for 49ers fans. He’s predicting the Chiefs to come on top by the score of 23-20.
“They (49ers) haven’t played their best ball in six or seven weeks and the Chiefs have pulled off the miraculous and continue to get better after playing a full season of B-minus football. So, I’m going to take the Chiefs,” Simms said.