In only his second year in the NFL, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy achieved a significant milestone by breaking a franchise record that had stood for 23 years—the most passing yards in a single season. Purdy, born a year after Jeff Garcia set the previous record of 4,278 passing yards in 2000, surpassed that mark by two yards during Sunday's game against the Washington Commanders.
The record now stands at 4,280 yards, with Purdy slated to sit out the Week 18 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams.
On Wednesday, Garcia joined Bay Area radio station KNBR and shared his thoughts on Purdy breaking his over two-decade-old record. Garcia congratulated Purdy on social media immediately after the record-breaking moment and expressed his admiration for Purdy's achievements since becoming the starter last season.
"I'm not a big social media guy as far as posting stuff, but I posted it in a story just congratulating him on his accomplishments and how he battles as a player and how he is a great decision-maker on the field," Garcia said. "He's a top NBA point guard on the NFL field. I mean, that's really what a quarterback needs to be—is you engage your teammates, you give your teammates opportunities to make plays. He's one of the best at doing that this year in the NFL, and the future looks bright for the young man.
"He's doing an incredible job of running Kyle Shanahan's system and utilizing the weapons that he has around him."
After highlighting the several offensive weapons at Purdy's disposal, Garcia continued, "But when you look at Brock play the position, he plays the position the way Kyle Shanahan has designed that system to be played. Whether it's inside the pocket, outside the pocket, he can make the throws.
"Either way you look at it, he does a great job of keeping plays alive when things break down around him. He's always looking to deliver the ball, not just turn into a runner and get yards down the field. He's attacking the line of scrimmage, keeping his eyes downfield.
"He's finding guys, he's directing guys, just like he did with [WR Brandon] Ayuk on the scramble drill. Great scramble touchdown throw that he made against Washington on Sunday. I mean, great job of directing traffic, of escaping the pocket, of keeping his eyes down the field, creating space, and then making a great throw for a touchdown."
Garcia added, "He plays much more mature and much more within himself as far as just the calmness, the coolness, the collectiveness of how he plays the game. And you love to see the energy that he brings as well."
While emphasizing the evolution of the NFL game with it being more pass-friendly compared to his playing days, Garcia noted the remarkable feat of his record standing for over two decades amid rule changes favoring offenses.
"Twenty-three years later in the NFL, to hold on to that record for that length of time, as well as the rule changes that have happened that would benefit the offense, benefit receivers running down the field, benefit quarterbacks playing the game and also the development of the game, how the offenses are run today as compared to how things were run back 15, 20, even 30 years ago," Garcia explained. "There's been a lot of changes that have increased the opportunities, I think, for quarterbacks to put out big numbers."
It's worth noting that Purdy broke the record while throwing 117 fewer passes than Garcia did in 2000 (444 compared to 561). Purdy's impressive 9.6 yards per attempt lead NFL quarterbacks.
You can listen to the entire conversation with Garcia below.
