Pro Football Focus named Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs as the NFL's best in its recent ranking of starting quarterbacks. It's hard to argue with that choice. Behind Mahomes are Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Brock Purdy finished last season as the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback. He came in when the team lost its second starting quarterback of the season. Trey Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury during Week 2. Then, Jimmy Garoppolo broke a foot during Week 13. That thrust Purdy into the starting lineup, and he guided the 49ers to eight consecutive wins, all the way to the NFC Championship Game.
Unfortunately, Purdy became the 49ers' third starting quarterback to suffer a serious injury, a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow against the Philadelphia Eagles in that NFC title game matchup.
The 23-year-old quarterback appeared in 12 games during his rookie campaign, starting eight, including three playoff games. He guided the 49ers to eight consecutive wins before that NFC Championship Game loss, looking like a seasoned veteran along the way.
Purdy underwent surgery on March 10, and the 49ers hope he can be ready to go by the start of the 2023 regular season—maybe even sooner.
Where does Pro Football Focus have Purdy listed in its quarterback ranking? He's at No. 23, one spot ahead of Garoppolo.
"Purdy passed for 8.3 yards per attempt last season in his run as the starter — more than Patrick Mahomes and every quarterback in the league other than Tua Tagovailoa — but he attempted just 233 passes in an offense we know to be a virtual cheat code for production," explained Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus.
"It would be wrong to dismiss his success altogether — he was better than players like Nick Mullens, who also had success in that offense — but it would also be crazy to overreact to such a small sample size, even outside of the risk associated with the UCL surgery Purdy had on his elbow."
As for the rest of the NFC West, Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams came in at No. 12. Pro Football Focus lists Geno Smith of the Seattle Seahawks at No. 15, while Colt McCoy of the Arizona Cardinals sits at No. 29.