Brock Purdy was an unlikely leading man when he became the 49ers’ starting quarterback as a rookie, but the five-year contract extension he signed before last season left no doubt that he’ll be playing the role for a long time.
Purdy struggled with a toe injury for most of the first half of the year, but returned to start six straight wins that pushed the 49ers into the playoffs. He threw 16 touchdowns over that span, but a Week 18 loss to the Seahawks kept the Niners from winning the division and they lost in Seattle again in the divisional round of the playoffs to end the season.
The two Seattle losses were poor outings for Purdy and he threw a pair of interceptions in a playoff win against the Eagles as well, so the final three-game run last season might be why fullback Kyle Juszczyk has picked up on negative feelings about his teammate. During an appearance on The Jim Rome Show, Juszczyk said that he thinks Purdy is being shortchanged in the court of public opinion.
“I don’t know what it is, what it’s going to take for this guy to finally get the respect that I think he truly deserves,” Juszczyk said. “Season in, season out, he plays tremendously and I don’t know what it is. I don’t know if it’s just the fact that he’s not a first-round draft pick, if that is just going to be the story for his entire career and be kind of held against him. Maybe. I love the guy, as a person, as my quarterback, as a football player. He is the dude.”
Purdy was the final pick in the draft and that lent itself to an early narrative that Kyle Shanahan’s offensive system made him a success, but Purdy’s continued strong play has chipped away at that argument. He’s also shown he can win in the playoffs by getting the team to the Super Bowl in his second season and winning five overall times in the postseason, so it’s hard to conjure up too many reasons to doubt Purdy’s ability to lead the Niners even if those that do are capturing the ears of his teammate.
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