San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is playing at an incredibly high level, and NFL Media writer Kevin Patra is giving him the recognition he deserves.
The season is still young, and Patra acknowledges that the 49ers have faced a couple of struggling opponents along the way. Still, he can't help but respect what Purdy is doing on the field, saying no one in the league is currently playing the position at his level.
That has Purdy sitting atop NFL.com's MVP tracker, ahead of Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
It probably doesn't hurt that Purdy's 49ers remain one of only three unbeaten teams in the NFL.
RELATED Brock Purdy has earned his place among the NFL's elite quarterbacks
"Purdy is on fire to open the season, and the catalyst for the 49ers' 4-0 start," Patra wrote. "Playing pristine in Kyle Shanahan's system, Purdy's performance is a culmination of time on task, innate deft touch, exemplary pocket manipulation, and heady playmaking. Each week he seems to drop a dime that makes me yelp and wonder how in heaven the ball got through to its target."
Purdy has completed a career-high 69.9 percent of his passes for 1,007 yards and 11 touchdowns while throwing just one interception. His 126.2 passer rating leads the NFL, and he is on pace to match his career and franchise high of 4,280 passing yards, set in 2023.
Purdy is doing so while the 49ers' roster deals with several injuries, including absences at wide receiver. Patra believes Purdy deserves credit for his impressive performances despite the adversity the team has faced.
"Sunday's outing against Denver wasn't his best of the year, but it did little to take the shine off," Patra continued. "Purdy still hasn't been sacked this season. If we're willing to say sacks are a QB stat when blaming players who take them in droves, we should credit Purdy's uncanny ability to shake free and avoid negative plays. Avoiding disaster has been a Purdy specialty through four weeks. He's thrown two touchdowns without an INT for the third straight week. He also became the first 49ers QB to start the season with multiple touchdowns in each of the first four games since Steve Young in 1998 (seven straight), per NFL Research.
"Purdy has used keen accuracy to blow away the rest of the QBs through the start of the season. He's No. 1 in passer rating (126.2), QBR (89.6), and net yards per attempt (8.9). His EPA per dropback of 0.53 is by far the top (Lamar Jackson is No. 2 at 0.29), and his success rate of 60.7% is best among QBs with at least 100 dropbacks. There is nary an advanced stat Purdy isn't dominating right now."
Whether Purdy does enough throughout the 2026 season to remain in NFL MVP consideration remains to be seen. For now, though, the fifth-year quarterback is a major reason behind San Francisco's success and why the 49ers could remain a Super Bowl contender at season's end.
More info on: Brock Purdy
Comments