The 49ers’ rookie quarterback Brock Purdy just joined Aaron Rodgers on a unique record, but what is it?
It’s pretty clear now, that San Francisco’s rookie didn’t come to the NFL to make up numbers on a roster. The question now is, ‘can he maintain?’
Having already put down the GOAT, the 49ers’ ‘Mr. Irrelevant” was already on the radar, but his most recent performance has now put him in a small club with reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers. That’s to say, the kid is starting to show consistency not just talent.
Brock Purdy matches Aaron Rodgers for rare record
The fact that Brock Purdy was the last pick in the NFL’s most recent draft, is beginning to look silly. Since taking over for the injured Jimmy Garoppolo, Purdy has answered San Francisco’s call and then some. Now on a 2-0 record as the team’s starting quarterback, Purdy was as good as ever during Thursday Night Football’s 21-13 win against the Seattle Seahawks, completing 17 of 26 passes for 217 yards, to go with a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions. His rating was 117.0
With the win, the Niners claimed NFC West which is of course great news. As for Purdy, he actually made history by becoming only the second quarterback to have a 115-plus quarterback rating in his first two career starts. Who was the first? The Packers’ star signal caller and last season’s league MVP, Aaron Rodgers who achieved the feat back in 2008. It’s also worth mentioning, that Purdy just the third quarterback since at least 1950 with a completion rate of 70% to go with four passing touchdowns and zero interceptions through two career starts. The other two before him are the aforementioned Rodgers and funnily enough the man Purdy replaced, Jimmy Garoppolo. At the moment, Purdy has completed 33 of 47 passes for 402 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions for a 124.6 passer rating.
Kyle Shanahan weighs in on Brock Purdy’s performance
“He’s definitely the most poised rookie I’ve ever had,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said post game. “He’s been like that since he’s gotten here. He’s been great and he was poised all week, even him being unsure of whether he would be able to go or not.” Poise is most definitely the word for Purdy. Against the Bucs, it was poise under pressure while against the Seahawks it was poise in the face of expectation.
“That was uneasy for him because he didn’t know what to expect under the circumstances. We didn’t have any other options. We were gonna see how long he could last and we were gonna go with Josh (Johnson), but he got comfortable as the game went. It was pretty unbelievable.” Though it may be true that the rookie is only averaging 5.6 yards per passing attempt, he’s yet to throw an interception and has been the key factor in two consecutive wins. It may still be too early to say Purdy can lead the 49ers to a title, but contenders? We think so.