As Sunday night advances and the rest of the NFL finds themselves in the throes of critical playoff pushes or tanking woes, the 49ers are sitting pretty as the official NFC West champions. Their games for the remainder of the year - at Las Vegas and at home against the Commanders and Cardinals - are certainly winnable, but San Francisco's surge of success has shifted the team's priorities. As always following a playoff clinch, the Niners have a chance to stay healthy and give their backups more reps in case they're needed for emergencies or specialty roles in the playoffs. But there's one backup in particular that's ascended to the point that he's become a real X-factor in the 49ers' playoff push - QB Brock Purdy.
The NFL world will be watching the 49ers over the next few weeks, simply because how Purdy progresses will have ramifications throughout the conference. And for head coach Kyle Shanahan, Purdy presents an intriguing puzzle. What's the best way to get him ready to face some of the hungriest and sturdiest defenses in the league over the next month? The answer to this question will tell us a lot about how Shanahan views Purdy, himself, and to an extent, the injured Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.
Recall that in 2019 and 2021, Garoppolo was extremely limited in his passing opportunities. Only once in his career has he attempted more than 25 passes in a playoff game. Part of that comes back to his reluctance to create plays out of structure, which feeds into his dichotomy of being able to make extremely difficult throws but also being able to flub some obvious ones. But Shanahan hasn't limited Purdy - who's averaged 28 passing attempts over his last three starts - nearly as much. Throw in several bold runs in critical situations over the past few weeks, and Purdy clearly isn't afraid to take responsibility for running one of the league's most talented offenses.
That maturity is what gives Shanahan so many options going into the last chunk of the season. In the end, it's about doing the most to figure out what kind of quarterback Purdy is, what his ceiling can be, and where his weaknesses need to be protected. With Deebo Samuel out, will reps best be spent finding out who Purdy connects best with on do-or-die, 50/50 contested catches? Does Purdy need to master the art of the play action, so that he can continue to rip off double-fake touchdown throws to tight end George Kittle? Do his creativity and athleticism open up lanes for the read option and screen game? How consistently can Purdy make the sort of tight-window, gut-punch lasers to hit a receiver in the middle of the field to convert a third-and-16 that Garoppolo found a way to master?
Truth is, there's more on the line than just an effective playoff push. Purdy's fate has now become entwined with the enigmatic and unpredictable courses of Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance's careers, and the 49ers will have to chart a path through murky waters to determine the future of the franchise. At this point, they'll need all the information they can get about who Purdy is and what he can do. After all, everyone thought Nick Mullens might be the answer after he destroyed the Raiders back in 2018. But given the situation, there's more hope than any self-respecting San Francisco fan can admit they had when Garoppolo's metatarsal cracked under the weight of two Dolphins' defenders. The only consistent theme in NFL quarterback evaluations is that nothing is set in stone, and we've already seen Brock Purdy find success against seemingly impossible odds.
Still, against the weight of history, Purdy faces an uphill battle. To wit, here's how some of the NFL's cognoscenti size up Purdy. The Ringer has a QB rankings list that updates a few times a month, putting together a week-by-week snapshot of quarterbacks and how their underlying skill matches up against the rest of the league. Garoppolo ranks 19th, sandwiched ironically between Matt Stafford and Jared Goff. But Purdy, as the since-confirmed starting quarterback of one of the NFL's crown jewel franchises, is on the board. Coming into the starting role as a 7th-round pick, he slotted in at 35th, between Taylor Heinicke and Davis Mills. But after commanding performances against Tua Tagovailoa and Tom Brady, Purdy has climbed the ladder all the way to...33rd. Even Trey Lance, who hasn't been nearly as productive, is ranked higher than him at 29th, primarily for the still-tantalizing physical skillset he brings. It's funny. Purdy's tagline on his ranking is "the quarterback Jimmy G haters think Jimmy G is."
And yet. Despite the history of all the other Mr. Irrelevants before him, despite the accusations of having a noodle arm, Purdy's shown everything that the 49ers needed from him and more. Since relieving Garoppolo against Miami, Purdy's thrown 6 TDs against a single interception that happened on a genuinely smart play, a deep-shot 50/50 ball on a 4th down that ended up serving as an arm punt. He's taken what the defense has given him early in the game, going 11/11 to start against Seattle, and taken big shots as the game's developed, like his deep heaves to McCaffrey and Aiyuk. He's escaped the pocket when nothing's available, creating plays with his mobility, yet he stays level-headed, like when he slid for a critical first down while staying in bounds to help ice the game against Seattle. He's not perfect - Purdy's made a few very visible mistakes, like his opening game audible against Tampa and two interception-worthy passes in his last two starts - but none of those things are either easily fixable or categorically worse than what Garoppolo does. The Niners just have to spend the next three weeks doing everything they can to find out just how far Purdy can take them. It's funny.
Brock Purdy might be the quarterback that Jimmy G lovers think Jimmy G is.