Every year, the NFL (and other major sports leagues), hold a draft. The NFL draft’s last player chosen has been named “Mr. Irrelevant” because they rarely play (data within the last ten years shows that “Mr.Irrelevants” will only play in 11 regular season games during their whole career according to an ESPN article). Brock Purdy, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback, was this pick, but he’s been anything but irrelevant in his first two years.
If Brock Purdy would have beaten the Eagles in the NFC championship last year and won the Super Bowl, would his draft position even be mentioned? Hell no! Everyone would be bowing down to him, calling him a stud, and writing articles about his amazing underdog story.
However, Purdy has played in 25 regular season games in two years, dating back to his week 14 slaughter against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, 35-7. So why does he suffer so much criticism?
It’s because of the way that the NFL and their fans treat 1st and 2nd round picks over later round picks. They value the earlier picks more for their prestige, and because of their reputation in college, so they will give them more playing time and more slack for mistakes. Whereas, a back up or 3rd stringer will only have limited chances to start, due to the next man up mentality of the league. If a quarterback is performing badly and it’s the second-string who is playing, people immediately point to the 3rd string as a possible remedy.
Right now, Purdy is leading the league in Total Quarterback Rating (QBR) at 72.7, 5th in yards with 4,280, 3rd in TD’s with 31, and 104th in interceptions with 11. Compare him to Kenny Pickett, who was the highest drafted quarterback in Purdy’s draft class, drafted 20th overall, and drafted 222 spaces above Purdy. Kenny Pickett is 29th in the league in yards with 2,070, 37th in touchdowns with 6, tied for 70th in interceptions with 4, and 27th in QBR at 38.5. Brock Purdy dominates Pickett in every stat. So why should draft position matter?
When it comes to the MVP race between Purdy and the Ravens Lamar Jackson, the argument that Purdy doesn’t deserve it due to him being a “system quarterback” gets even more ridiculous. Stat-wise, Purdy out competes Jackson in QBR, TD’s, and Yards. Jackson, who was a 1st round pick and 32th overall, only beats Purdy when it comes to the least amount of interceptions thrown. (Although it’s fair to point out in their only head to head matchup, Purdy had one of the worst performances – 4 interceptions – in a 33-19 loss.)
Purdy against Patrick Mahomes gets more lopsided, where Purdy beats out Mahomes in every category. Purdy leads Mahomes in yards – 4,280 to 4,183, touchdowns – 31 to 27, interceptions – 11 to 14 interceptions, and QBR rating – 72.8 to 63.
The only legitimate competition to Purdy in the MVP conversation is Dak Prescott. He leads the league in TD’s at 36, is 2nd in QBR (behind Purdy), and 3rd in yards at 4,516. Out of all the quarterbacks mentioned, he is the only one who isn’t currently in the playoffs.
Now imagine if Prescott would have beaten the Packers, his stat line surely would have improved. However, it’s pretty ironic that despite Prescott being drafted in the 4th round and 135th overall he still leads the NFL in most statistics, without being currently in the playoffs.
To believe that draft position matters more than quality of play is plain stupid. While it’s true that most picks as low as Purdy’s rarely play consistently in the NFL, if a player is kicking butt and taking names like Purdy has been, he should be respected and given credit for the achievement he has produced, not attacked and belittled for his draft position.
The reason all these talking heads, commentators, and analysts try to make it seem like Purdy’s draft position matters is because they want to cover their butts and not admit they were wrong about Purdy. They make Purdy seem like a system quarterback, that he only has his superior statline due to the weapons he has on the field, his O-line, and Kyle Shanahan. However, when they make that argument, they pretend that other previous MVP quarterbacks had excellent weapons on the field, like Patrick Mahomes, who had Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill back in 2018.
Let me remind you that the best quarterback in NFL history, Tom Brady, was also in Purdy’s shoes. Brady, who won seven Super Bowls in his career, was drafted in the 6th round. 199th overall to be precise by the Patriots and started out as the 4th string quarterback. He bided his time, moved up the depth chart and when the starter, Drew Bledsoe, got injured Brady unleashed on the competition and the rest is history.
Now everyone regards Brady as the G.O.A.T for his 17 division titles, 13 AFC championship appearances and 7 Super Bowl Rings. Nobody ever remembers him for his draft pick, only for his quality of play.
As for Purdy, if he isn’t considered a clutch quarterback based on his performance against the Packers and Lions then I don’t know what is. Under Kyle Shanahan, the Niners were an abysmal 0-31 when trailing by 5 points entering the 4th quarter. And entering the NFC divisional round against the Packers, they were down by 7. While critics of Purdy will be quick to point out his subpar quarterback play in the first half put the Niners in that disadvantage, when the Niners needed to score he came in clutch and led them to the statistically improbable comeback victory.
However, in the conference finals against the Lions, he was something masterful. After subpar quarterback play in the first half and horrible defensive play, the Niners had an 8.5% chance of winning (ESPN). But with 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, down 17 points, Purdy’s footwork, wit, and toughness led the Niners to tie the biggest comeback in the NFC championship history. With a little help from Bradon Aiyuk’s amazing 51 yard catch, and a few coaching mistakes from Detroit, the outstanding quarterback play of Purdy carried the Niners to their first Super Bowl appearance in 4 years.
Purdy has the shot of shutting up all the naysayers, all the haters, and all the smack talk about him and his draft position by winning the Super Bowl against the Chiefs on Feb 11. Hopefully, the Niners win the Super Bowl and Purdy makes egg drip on the analysts’ faces.
