purdy criticism unfair and unwarranted

By: Justin Goldberg

Brock Purdy’s underdog story, from being drafted last in the 2022 draft to MVP consideration and near Super Bowl victory in 2024, is the stuff straight out of a movie script. 

As much as his story is blockbuster worthy, his being labeled as a “system quarterback” and “game manager,” seeks to reduce and mar his status. 

What people don’t realize is that neither of the aforementioned qualifiers should be used to critique a player, which speaks little of his actual abilities on the field.

The term “system quarterback” is an invalid criticism. Is it not the quarterback’s goal to efficiently and effectively execute its offensive system and philosophy? Purdy’s critics say “put ‘x’ QB in this system and the 49ers would be undefeated.” That’s a terrible argument because it’s hypothetical and because there’s no factual evidence brought into the discussion. Also, any other quarterback would be doing the same thing that Purdy is doing. Why would they change their entire offensive system when they have one of the best offenses in NFL history? 

The 49ers have an offense where their skill position talent is unbelievable and Purdy’s job is to just quickly read the defense and get the ball to his playmakers, which he does  and more. Purdy  has consistently shown that he can make plays out of structure and under pressure, push the ball downfield effectively, throw with great anticipation especially over the middle of the field, navigate the pocket, extend plays, break sacks, quickly get rid of the ball and deliver it with great timing and placement. But, mainly, he makes most of his big plays within the offensive structure which is not only when his offense, but any offense, is at it’s best and most sustainable. Why would San Francisco run anything other than that? Just because Purdy is disciplined in the pocket and doesn’t make all these flashy throws, doesn’t mean he’s strictly a “game manager.” 

Every offense should be built around its quarterback’s strengths. Purdy has great discipline to stay within the play calling structure but also knows when the play breaks down, he needs to get out of the pocket and make something happen. San Francisco’s offensive line posted the 27th best pressure rate allowed, and Purdy is 11th in sack percentage and within striking distance of the top eight, statistical evidence that Purdy is a phenomenal pocket passer, navigator, has a quick timer, and can quickly and efficiently get rid of the ball. 

There are flaws in Purdy’s game as his accuracy takes a toll outside the numbers and he doesn’t have a great arm which would limit his ability to accurately deliver the deep ball. However, he can play around them and we hardly see those flaws in games. Purdy is the quarterback of the most efficient offense in football while posting the league leading DVOA and EPA/Play. Regardless of how easy the job is, you have to be a great player to be doing what Purdy does.

A wide misconception among the NFL community is that they believe every single young QB or any player that’s not in a good situation to be good, which is not the case. A player cannot be good despite being in a poor situation. That type of player is heavily protected by the NFL community, but as soon as a player starts balling out when they’re in a great situation, that player is apparently just not that good. A player can also be great even with being in a great situation. In Purdy’s case, would he struggle more without his top weapons and Kyle Shanahan? Of course he would. Every QB would struggle more, but I’d trust in Purdy to still be a great player because he does have great traits to elevate an offense. 

I wouldn’t call Purdy an elite QB and he is more of a floor raising, game manager than he is a ceiling raiser, but that is certainly not a bad thing as he is the franchise guy in San Francisco and a great player. Great players can play more of a game managing role than a ceiling raiser role and still be the guy to take them to championships, like we’re seeing with Purdy now.  Ceiling raiser or floor raiser, there aren’t 15 QBs who are better than Purdy in today’s NFL.