Don't let his calmness under pressure or ability to rebound from the occasional mistake fool you. Brock Purdy may seem like a savvy veteran, helping guide the San Francisco 49ers to a 13-4 record and the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs, but he still has only five starts and six games of extended playing time under his belt. While he has looked good in regular-season action, the pressure of the playoffs and facing the best in the league from here on out has some wondering if the "Purdy Magic" might end.
One analyst who isn't concerned about the 23-year-old quarterback stumbling in the postseason is Brian Baldinger.
"I've watched every throw now since he took over for Jimmy [Garoppolo] in the first quarter against Miami, so almost six games," Baldinger said Tuesday on 95.7 The Game. "He was 15 of 20 [passing] last week. He threw three of those 15 completions for touchdowns. I don't know if any of them were the first read. I think he's getting better."
Baldinger notes that head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense is not easy to learn, which says a lot about Purdy's ability to absorb its complexities. Not everyone can pick it up as fast as Purdy, a first-year player, has.
"He's been doing it since day one," Baldinger continued. "... We haven't seen them burn any timeouts. We haven't seen them not get lined up correctly. I could point out a couple of protection breakdowns. Sometimes that's his fault. Sometimes it's the line's fault. But they've been few and far between. He usually gets out of harm's way.
"I'm talking about, sort of, the esoteric part of the game. Forget about just getting the ball to the open receiver. But he does it, and he makes it look easy."
Saturday will be the third time this season that the Seattle Seahawks have faced the 49ers and the second time they have gone against Purdy. It's possible that the Seahawks learned something about Purdy in their first meeting that they can take advantage of during their second attempt to frustrate the quarterback.
"There's some things the second time around, maybe, like a hitter, going to see the pitcher for the second time, maybe they're a little bit better," Baldinger explained. "But I don't think we're going to see the proverbial shoe drop right here."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Baldinger below.