After years of striving to solidify the starting quarterback position, the San Francisco 49ers finally struck gold with the last overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, selecting Brock Purdy out of Iowa State.

Admittedly, general manager John Lynch can't take sole credit for the find. During a conversation on the "Pat McAfee Show" this week, Lynch disclosed the individuals within the organization who were instrumental in identifying Purdy as a draft prospect the team should consider.


"I think two people deserve so much credit for Brock Purdy, and one of them is now in our pro department," Lynch shared. "He's a guy by the name of Steve Slowick. His brother's Bobby Slowick, the offensive coordinator down there in Houston. But Steve was the college scout that would go through Iowa State."


The 49ers anticipated Purdy might declare for the draft after his junior year, so the team started doing homework on the prospect early. Lynch acknowledged that the 49ers had high grades on Purdy during his junior year, exceeding those from his senior year. This gave the team valuable evaluation time before selecting Purdy as the No. 262 overall pick in 2022.

"But Steve was a guy who had the benefit of going into that school, hearing [head coach] Matt Campbell, who did such a great job at Iowa State, turning that program around," Lynch continued. "And Steve would always come during these draft meetings, in the fall meetings, and just speak so glowingly about Brock and the culture changer he was, how Iowa State would not be where they're at without Brock Purdy.

"And Steve was seeing it with his own eyes, but he was also telling us what Matt Campbell was saying. There's good recommenders, and Matt had always proven to be a really good recommender. When he believed in a guy, it usually translated. And so Steve was very integral in that process."

The other person inside the building who campaigned for Purdy was Brian Griese, who had just joined the organization, serving as its quarterbacks coach.


"Brian was incredibly impressed once we kind of gave [Brock] to him and said, 'Hey, get on these Zooms, start talking to Brock,'" Lynch said. "And Griese came back extremely convicted. And then it's in Kyle's hands, it's in my hands, and we start watching.

"And we were so smart, we waited until the very last pick to draft him, and thank God he was there. He's been tremendous for our organization, and you really could see it right away."

Lynch outlined how Purdy took advantage of every opportunity during his rookie offseason, even though his practice reps were limited. Little by little, Shanahan gradually increased Purdy's practice workload to assess his performance over a larger sample size.

Although Purdy initially started the 2022 season behind Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, injuries to both quarterbacks propelled him into the starting lineup, where he thrived. In his debut NFL season, Purdy led the 49ers to the NFC Championship before a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow sidelined him.

Following surgery and an offseason of recovery, Purdy delivered a standout sophomore campaign, setting a single-season franchise record with 4,280 passing yards and leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl, narrowly falling short of victory.


Lynch concluded, "Brock's been awesome, and we're thrilled to have him part of our organization. He's an awesome kid, and he's got a lot of ability, and it's a great story. But it's more than a story now. He's our guy, and we're thrilled to have him."



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