There seems to be no end in sight to the disrespect directed at Brock Purdy. This skepticism may persist until the quarterback leads the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl victory. Even then, sports media personalities like Doug Gottlieb may be unwilling to change their tone.
Purdy has done everything possible to silence his doubters, consistently leading the league in several passing categories, including passer rating, while securing victories for the team. However, Gottlieb remains unconvinced.
"I could probably go 15 quarterbacks deep, at least, that would have as good or better a record as the San Francisco 49ers have now if Brock Purdy was replaced by them at quarterback," Gottlieb recently said on his FOX Sports Radio show. "Because to me, value is basically wins above replacement. You know that stat in baseball, wins above replacement? Like, if I put anybody else in your position, can you be as effective?"
Gottlieb argues that Purdy's performance suffered without tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Deebo Samuel in the lineup for two games. However, it's worth noting that Purdy maintained a completion percentage of at least 70 in those matchups, albeit with two interceptions in each contest.
"He didn't have Deebo Samuel, and he had a turnover problem," Gottlieb explains. "Like, Hey, why is he playing so much better? Well, they have all their players."
Gottlieb wanted to make it clear that he acknowledges Purdy is having a good season, and the return on investment, considering his draft position at No. 262 overall, is impressive.
Gottlieb added, "But come on, man. Trevor Lawrence in that system—I mean, go through all the quarterbacks. They'd all be good. You know why? Because they're really well coached, they have a great offensive line, they have the best running back in football, they have an elite tight end, and they have elite wide receivers."
One of those elite weapons is tired of hearing the same old arguments against his quarterback.
Tight end George Kittle recently told Rich Eisen, "Brock's playing at an incredibly elite, high level consistently, week in and week out, 130 passer ratings, perfect passer ratings, doing everything that you're supposed to do as a quarterback. But just because he has good skill positions around him and a solid head coach and a pretty good defense, it's like, Oh, he doesn't get the credit for it because everyone's doing all the work for him. Well, we can't do any of that work unless he's the guy throwing the ball."
Despite calling McCaffrey elite, Gottlieb also used the opportunity to seemingly diminish what the star running back has accomplished.
"And I think Christian McCaffrey is the best running back by a good amount," Gottlieb continued. "But I'm also willing to admit that, again, behind that offensive line, when it's healthy, in that scheme we've seen, I mean, look at what the Miami Dolphins do with two different running backs. Occasionally, we've seen some pretty good numbers."
