Former NFL quarterback Alex Smith, who spent his first eight seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, joined Bay Area radio station KNBR on Friday morning and was asked about the team's current signal-caller, Brock Purdy.
Smith also spent five seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. During his last season there, he helped mentor a young quarterback by the name of Patrick Mahomes, who went on to win three Super Bowls.
While Mahomes is widely seen as the best quarterback in the NFL, Smith does see at least one similarity between Purdy and the Chiefs' star.
"Both these guys are football players," Smith said on the "Murph and Markus" show. "These guys are just tough, do whatever it takes to win. They love the moment. That's what's so rare, certainly about Pat, and even Brock—that confidence. They want the ball, right? They want the ball down three in the fourth quarter with like a minute [and] 30 [seconds] left and a timeout.
"They want to be in that situation, and there's not a lot of guys that want [to do that]. They want to take the last shot. And I think you have to have it. You have to have that kind of mentality to be an elite quarterback."
Purdy still has his critics, who love to point to the quarterback's talented supporting cast in Santa Clara as a reason for his success, diminishing his accomplishments. However, Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports recently ranked Purdy second among all NFL quarterbacks, behind only Mahomes.
"Does he have a sterling setup in San Francisco? Yep," Benjamin wrote. "Does he operate like a 10-year vet, managing the pocket as both an efficient and mobile gunslinger? Also yep."
Purdy is coming off an impressive sophomore NFL season. His 4,280 passing yards set a single-season franchise record, a significant accomplishment considering the 49ers' rich history at the position. Purdy has guided the team to two NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl in his two NFL seasons.
You can listen to the entire conversation below.
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