It's hard to dismiss what San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is accomplishing this season. Despite the injuries continuing to plague the roster, Purdy is playing at a very high level, with some suggesting the fifth-year quarterback may even be playing at an MVP level.
Purdy has completed a career-high 72.3% of his passes, is tied with Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins for the NFL lead with nine passing touchdowns, and has thrown just one interception. His 133.1 passer rating also leads the NFL.
Most importantly, Purdy has been instrumental in helping the 49ers remain undefeated. San Francisco improved to 3-0 this past weekend with a 36-30 win over the Arizona Cardinals and now sits alone atop the NFC West standings as the division's only unbeaten team.
After Sunday's game, head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about his level of confidence in Purdy and whether he has ever been this comfortable with a quarterback.
"Yes, I had that with [former NFL MVP QB] Matt [Ryan] in '16," Shanahan said. "Had it in [former NFL QB Matt] Schaub way back in the day. And I've had it with Brock, I think, four years in a row now."
Shanahan stressed that he has been comfortable with Purdy since the quarterback's early NFL days. After all, the former last overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft quickly showed his talent after taking over as a rookie starter.
"I'm very comfortable with Brock throwing the ball, and I feel like I've always been with him," Shanahan said.
NFL Media writer Kevin Patra highlighted Purdy's impressive start to the season.
"Purdy is on an MVP tear through three games," Patra wrote. "The QB has been laser-accurate, always finding the right target and rarely making unforced errors. He threw for 297 yards and four touchdowns with zero turnovers in Sunday's win over the Cardinals. It marked the 14th career game with a 130+ passer rating, the most by any player before turning 27 in NFL history, surpassing Lamar Jackson, per NFL Research. His 14 career games with a 130+ passer rating are tied for second-most in 49ers history with Hall of Famer Joe Montana, trailing only Hall of Famer Steve Young (22).
"Purdy's ability to hit his targets in stride sets up extra yards. His TD pass to Mike Evans was the latest 'How on earth did he drop that into the tiniest window?' throw from the 49ers QB this season."
Purdy is leading the NFL in several metrics. When asked if any quarterback is playing better than Purdy at this point in the season, Shanahan acknowledged that he hasn't closely followed the rest of the league. Still, his answer offered a strong endorsement of Purdy.
"I'd be surprised, but I don't study the other quarterbacks right now, so I don't really know what anyone else is doing, except for the guys that we go against," Shanahan said. "I don't get to see any of that, but I think it's really hard to play much better than he's playing right now."
Shanahan is so confident in Purdy that he admits he doesn't have to spend much time critiquing the quarterback's play during a game.
"He's very good at doing his job extremely consistently," Shanahan said. "That's why I don't watch him much. I watch the coverages and where the ball's going to go, and he gets it there 90% of the time. If he didn't, it's usually because something happened that he couldn't avoid.
"And then, I look back and sometimes see when that happens, and he's running around making a play, and it doesn't even matter that it didn't work out because he makes an off-schedule or moves the chains with his legs."
With injuries mounting, the 49ers will need Purdy to continue playing at a high level if they hope to maintain their lead in the NFC West.
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