The San Francisco 49ers are set to roll with rookie signal-caller Brock Purdy at quarterback for the foreseeable future, if not the remainder of the season, raising questions as to how the offense could look after yet another injury to the quarterback position.
On Sunday, playing in the first extensive role of his NFL career, Purdy played solid enough for the 49ers to obtain a 33-17 win over the Miami Dolphins, making a variety of plays, as well as some expected rookie mistakes.
Some of those plays came off-schedule, as Purdy evaded pressure in the pocket before making throws on the run, while also completing passes off play-action bootlegs.
Now, how will the 49ers' offense look with Brock Purdy at quarterback?
Examining the similarities and differences between Purdy and former starter Jimmy Garoppolo, the former doesn't have as strong of an arm as the latter, although it's not necessarily a strength of either quarterback. Additionally, Purdy doesn't possess Garoppolo's quick-release or accuracy, at least thus far, but has enough athleticism to evade pressure and make off-schedule plays.
Now, Purdy has good pocket presence and eye manipulation for a rookie quarterback, which are both vital in maintaining one's confidence.
But, in regards to skillset, there aren't too many distinct differences, which head coach Kyle Shanahan agreed with when explaining the plan at quarterback moving forward.
"We're trying not to make it a drastic change. [Brock Purdy and Jimmy Garoppolo] have a similar skillset [and] we have a lot of confidence in Brock. We've seen him in practice. Our players have, we have and that's why we were confident in him, but he hasn't played a ton of football, so there is some unknown out there, but we know he has the ability to do it. We know he has the mentality to do it and I don't like how we got to this point, but we're definitely excited about the option that we have," said Shanahan.
Shanahan doesn't envision as big of a change schematically and gameplan-wise in regards to going from Garoppolo to Purdy in comparison to the switch from Trey Lance to Jimmy Garoppolo earlier in the season.
With Lance, the 49ers had a quarterback with the ability to make plays with his legs as a rusher, adding the possibility of 11-on-11 football, which was scrapped when Garoppolo re-entered the fold following the injury to San Francisco's starter.
But, with Purdy, San Francisco doesn't necessarily have that element, although he has the athleticism to make off-schedule plays, hence the minimalistic changes in the game-planning.
"I think it [the difference in gameplan] was a bit bigger from Trey to Jimmy just in terms of the running element that Trey had. Just how we looked at a gameplan, how we positioned all the formations to kind of keep him always as a threat as a runner. Jimmy and Brock aren't necessarily running threats, so you don't sit there and design stuff like that, but they're definitely both mobile enough to make plays with their legs."
As for play style, Shanahan acknowledged Purdy's aggressiveness, which has both positive and negative elements to it, which were seen on Sunday.
"[Brock Purdy's] very aggressive in what he does. Sometimes that can keep both teams in the game, so that's stuff that you have to work on as you play more, but that's where you want to start with it. When a guy can make some plays like he does, he gives you a chance to win, but we have to figure out what's the best way to win with him."
Purdy's aggressiveness led to some nice tight-window throws that converted first downs for the 49ers, but also some incompletions and the interception to Xavien Howard.
But, Shanahan has liked what he's seen from Purdy when running the offense in terms of his aggressiveness, especially with Purdy's understanding of the defenses through his explanations.
"I like when a play is there that guys aren't scared to make it, they don't hesitate, they don't take a second look at it. They let it rip and they worry about it after. A lot of guys who just guess do that too, so you have to find out whether they're being aggressive or just if they're deciding then to do it or if they're deciding on Wednesday and then that's a big difference, but Brock has been very good with it. He can explain what he sees and that's why we got a lot of confidence in him."
Purdy did have the ability to work the deep-to-short route-tree, which led to several checkdowns to Christian McCaffrey, which was the right move on several plays.
Shanahan liked the eye manipulation that Purdy showcased, which isn't always praised, but is one of the little things that help improve an offense over the course of a game.
"[His feel and anticipation on some throws to Christian McCaffrey were] good, especially because he was trying to hit someone deeper and the hole was there, but we just got re-routed a little bit, so we couldn't quite get to the hole and a lot of times when the hole is there, guys will just throw it and he'll sail over and go to a cover-two safety and he was able to wait on it as long as he could and then he moved the backer and got it right to Christian. Just to play like that is huge. It's a second-and-eight check down, but because of the way you look with your eyes, the timing, how you get there, it's a nine-yard gain instead of a four-yard gain. And plays like that you never have to see third down and those, to me, are usually the biggest plays in the game that no one really accounts for."
Defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans acknowledged Purdy's athleticism when speaking to his scout team performance, which was a vital part of his game on Sunday against the Dolphins.
"[Brock Purdy] feels the rush in the pocket. He's able to escape. One thing, I liked about Brock is he's athletic, he can move out of the pocket and still try to create on the run. And we played a lot of moving, athletic quarterbacks this year and Brock did a really good job of giving us some looks of, extending plays and creating, throwing the ball down field, throwing no look passes when we needed him to. Like he's done everything we've asked him to do, he's a true team player."
Going forward, one specific change offensively with Purdy at the helm would be utilizing rollouts more often on play-action passes, whereas Jimmy Garoppolo mainly remained in the pocket after faking handoffs on play-action.
Doing so would place Purdy in a situation where he appears more comfortable, while allowing him to essentially read only half the field, simplifying the progression for him while causing defenses to account for the off-schedule plays.
Additionally, Purdy should continue to see playcalls that include middle-of-the-field routes, where his lack of arm strength would be best accounted for, as he could use his eye manipulation to free receivers, while benefitting from Kyle Shanahan's ability to scheme players open with route concepts.
But, San Francisco should hone in on their running game, even with their offensive weapons, to ease Purdy's load, although it comes with an understanding that teams will likely sell out against the run in an attempt to force the 49ers to consistently throw the football.
The "hot routes" will be essential in the coming weeks, as teams could throw extra blitzes at Purdy to faze him as a rookie quarterback, meaning that he'd have to resort to that hot route quickly after analyzing the blitz.
Overall, while there likely shouldn't be many major schematic changes, Shanahan could implement different elements that suit best to Purdy's skillset to make the rookie's job easier as he navigates the tough waters of facing several playoff contenders in a row.