San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has played at an MVP level through the first five games of the 2026 season. Although his performance against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday wasn't his best, his overall numbers remain impressive.
Purdy is on pace to record his second career 4,000-yard passing season. He has completed 69 percent of his passes for 1,196 yards, with 13 touchdowns and two interceptions.
Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young joined Bay Area radio station KNBR on Wednesday morning and shared how impressed he's been with Purdy's development this season.
"When I saw him in the Rams game in Australia, I'm like, 'Whoa, he's quicker. Whoa, his decision-making is even faster,'" Young said. "He optimized in the offseason. Whoever trained him, whoever—like if he did it himself, I don't know—but whoever did needs a shout-out as well, because he had optimized his game.
"And his game is unique, and unique to him, and he just, instead of kind of resting on all the things that he's already good at, I felt like he got better. I felt like he's even more aware. He's quicker with his reads. And his body, it feels like he's niftier, and actually has some speed. Like he did speed work, you could tell. So it's all that.
"And then, you put [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] with him, and it's like you can see some cool stuff is happening."
Adding wide receiver Mike Evans has given Purdy another valuable weapon in the 49ers' offense. The veteran provides a boundary target and red-zone threat unlike any Purdy has had throughout his NFL career.
Evans has exceeded San Francisco's expectations in his first season with the team, even while dealing with a rib injury.
Young believes the chemistry between Purdy and Evans will only strengthen as the season progresses. He shared why their improving confidence in each other could lead to even more production down the stretch.
"I always said, it's 3rd-and-10, my mom's open, she's getting the ball," Young said. "I think what we're saying is Mike Evans understands spatial relationships in a unique Hall of Fame way, and so all of a sudden, where there doesn't seem to be anybody open, Mike's finding that place.
"And so that confidence builds with Brock that I'm going to keep my eye [out for] wherever Mike is, and that allows Kyle Shanahan to lean into play-calling. You can call a play knowing that, yeah, if it breaks down, Mike's in a space that's going to be really cool, and we'll figure that out.
"And so, in that way, everybody's kind of building off of unique abilities that a great player has that open up not just the play you call, but the play after the play."
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