The San Francisco 49ers are, somewhat remarkably, just four quarters away from a second Super Bowl appearance in four years.
On the surface, it might seem harsh to call San Francisco’s run remarkable given the plethora of talent on both sides of the ball.
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THE DRAFT SPLASH THAT LEFT NFL EXEC PUZZLED
The crazy QB journey the 49ers have been on this season can be traced back to its debatable beginning, when Garoppolo, after just one season with the franchise, signed a five-year, $AUD194 million contract in 2017.
It was, at the time, the largest contract in NFL history on an annual basis.
But after one torn ACL in 2018 followed by a run to the Super Bowl a year later and an injury-riddled 2020 campaign, the 49ers secretly hatched a plan for the future at QB.
Going into the 2021 Draft, the 49ers initially had the 12th pick.
However, the NFL world was stunned when they traded up to spot No. 3 by sending Miami three first-rounders and a third-round pick.
The rumour mill went into overdrive immediately, with the initial whispers claiming the 49ers would take one of three QBs in Justin Fields, Mac Jones or Trey Lance.
Jones was the one most-heavily linked, with NBC Sports’ Peter King claiming in 2021 that 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan “believes Jones is the accurate coach-on-the-field type he craves.”
“I’ll be fascinated — we all will — if Jones is the pick,” King wrote.
“And I can see it happening.”
But after a lengthy pre-draft process in which Shanahan and 49ers general manager John Lynch scrutinised every detail about Fields, Jones and Lance, they came to a general consensus.
“You poke and you prod, and you start talking to coaches and scouts and people … ‘Tell me about the kid [Lance], tell me about the competitor, tell me about the leader,’” Lynch told NBC Sports.
“And then you get a chance to meet him via Zoom. He was authentic. There’s a comfort. There’s a good vibe. He and Kyle played well off each other.
“All those things keep adding up.”
The decision was made by the 49ers brass to draft Lance, despite having just one full season of college football to his name for North Dakota State.
It may have been a call that made sense within the 49ers building, but, as an anonymous NFC executive told The Athletic, giving up so much draft capital for a prospect with not a ton of starts was puzzling.
“If Jimmy did not get you to where you want to be, then where do you want to be?” the NFC executive said.
“Because I can tell you this: 29 or 30 other teams aren’t where you were. Who is adding one player that takes multiple years to get the answer on, to a Super Bowl-calibre team that you built, to get you to win the Super Bowl?
“How does that work?”
Lance would go on to be the 49ers’ backup QB in the 2021 season, but stepped in when Garoppolo got injured.
Although he didn’t exactly set the world on fire, the rookie showed glimpses of why the franchise moved plenty of pieces to bring him in.
The path was clearly laid for Lance to take over from Garoppolo as the starter in 2022, but injuries took their toll.
It paved the way for an unlikely hero to step into the limelight and perhaps steal Lance’s thunder permanently.
MR. IRRELEVANT BECOMES MR. RELEVANT
Across 46 starts for Iowa State, Purdy shattered record after record — 32, to be exact.
But he did not enter the 2022 Draft as one of the top QB prospects.
Pro Football Network’s Cam Mellor listed him at No. 8 in their top 10 list.
“He was a darling of many college football and draft analysts for some time,” Mellor wrote.
“However, Purdy never really elevated his game as an NFL Draft prospect. He isn’t a pocket passer, nor is he a mobile, throw-on-the-run kind of guy.
“He’s almost an enigma.”
Eight other quarterbacks had the joyous moment of hearing their name called at the draft as Purdy sat and waited, and waited, and waited some more.
Eventually Purdy’s NFL dreams were realised when the 49ers selected him with the very last pick of the draft, making him “Mr. Irrelevant”, the moniker given to final player to be drafted.
Unsurprisingly, Purdy went into the 2022 season as the team’s third-string QB, sitting behind Lance and Garoppolo, who held the starting and backup roles respectively.
Perhaps Purdy could have gone into the season as backup given Garoppolo was heavily tipped to be traded away, but the former Patriots QB signed a one-year deal to stick around for a little while longer.
Instead, it took the Iowa State product just two weeks to be thrust into that role when Lance went down with a fractured ankle against the Seattle Seahawks, ruling him out for the season.
It was then Garoppolo’s time to shine as he led the 49ers to seven wins from his 10 starts deputising for the injured Lance, throwing 16 touchdowns throughout the stretch.
Garoppolo steered the 49ers to a 7-4 overall record before the team took on the Miami Dolphins on December 5, a solid record but not one that exactly guaranteed playoff football.
But the hopes of postseason action appeared dashed when Garoppolo sustained a broken foot early against the Dolphins.
Garoppolo’s injury not just opened the door for Purdy to enter the game, but it may have altered the 49ers’ outlook at the most important position for the immediate future.
PURDY RESURGENCE
Just about everyone could have forgiven Purdy for acting like a deer in the headlights when he entered the game against the Dolphins.
Instead, the rookie guided the 49ers to a crucial 33-17 win in which he completed 25 of 37 passes and threw for two touchdowns, with one interception the only blemish on his stat line.
With Lance and Garoppolo now sidelined, it was Purdy’s offence to commandeer and few would have predicted what was to come.
In his first start, Purdy took on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who boasted arguably the greatest QB of all time in the form of Tom Brady.
But it was the rookie who showed up the master, as Purdy threw for two touchdowns and rushed into the end zone for another in a resounding 35-7 win over the Bucs.
Despite the dazzling numbers Purdy put up in his first career start, it was a moment early on that proved to 49ers star Deebo Samuel that made him realise the rookie might very well be the real deal.
“The first game he ever started, he called time-out,” Samuel said, per The Athletic.
“That kind of shocked me. Kyle [Shanahan] don’t play that. That showed me the type of guy he is.”
Purdy would go on to win his next four starts against the Seahawks, the Commanders, the Raiders and the Cardinals.
He threw for nine touchdowns and an average of 228.25 yards per game in that span as well as an average QB rating of 117.05.
By comparison, that makes him the fifth-best performing QB per ESPN, with only Kirk Cousins, Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott and Patrick Mahomes outperforming Purdy when it comes to QB ratings.
The next question surrounding Purdy’s game then became about how he would handle the even brighter lights of playoff football.
That was answered by an emphatic performance in the NFC wild card round, as Purdy threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-23 win over the Seahawks.
However, his toughest test was just around the corner with an NFC divisional match against the Dallas Cowboys.
Although it wasn’t Purdy’s best game numbers-wise — he failed to throw a touchdown despite completing 19-of-29 passes for 214 yards — it was his calmness that wowed pundits, fans and teammates alike.
“I thought Brock did really well, especially when our offence wasn’t doing well early,” 49ers tight end George Kittle said.
“Brock wasn’t getting distraught. There was no, like, jitteriness to him. He was just Brock Purdy.
“Walking in the huddle, calling the play and delivering.”
Purdy will have to elevate his game even further if he is to lead the 49ers to the promised land once more, as San Francisco travels to the best team in the NFC, the Philadelphia Eagles, for a spot in the big dance.
But even if the rookie falls short, some feel as if he has done enough to cement his spot as the team’s starting QB for the future.
And by doing so, he might save the team a chunk of money and help them earn some draft capital in the process.
WHERE TO NEXT FOR 49ERS ON QB SITUATION?
With Purdy yet to taste defeat with the 49ers and the manner in which he has seamlessly slotted into the offence, the narrative has now shifted from the youngster being a capable backup to him being the new full-time starter.
That means leaping ahead of Lance, the No.3 pick in 2021, in the depth chart.
According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, he’s seen enough from the rookie to warrant being handed the keys to the offence.
“He’s [Purdy] done some amazing things,” Rapoport told KNBR’s Murph and Mac Show.
“I am impressed by all the athletic stuff, but I’m more impressed by how he doesn’t seem to be bothered by anything.”
Rapoport also noted the difference in how Lance and Purdy have performed within the same system under Shanahan.
“Trey Lance, I think, could be very good, but it’s not like he was blowing doors off the thing when he was there earlier in the year,” Rapoport said.
“Brock Purdy comes in and has got that thing humming. I think it’s really impressive.”
It’s why Rapoport believes there’s only one logical choice to make when it comes to who will start next season under centre.
“How is he [Purdy] not the starting quarterback next year,” Rapoport said.
“What more do you want? What is out there that he is not doing?”
The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami notes that the rookie’s teammates have “started not only to count on Purdy to make the right play but to believe he could put them into the right play even when Shanahan couldn’t.”
“Garoppolo could do that sometimes, I’m sure, but possibly not all of the time,” Kawakami wrote.
“When he was playing this season, Lance just wasn’t there, and it’s hard to know when and if that arrival will ever happen.
“Purdy? He’s there.”
49ers tackle Trent Williams certainly believes as much as he lavished praise on the youngster who oozed swagger “the minute he stepped in” the building.
“Brock Purdy, which has been kind of, I wouldn’t say elephant in the room, but he’s been a pleasant surprise to everybody in the building when you think about getting the last pick of the draft, a quarterback who’s somewhat undersized,” Williams told The TK Show.
“But from the minute he stepped in, I looked at him, like, man, this guy — you can see the confidence, like, spewing out of him.
“And it’s not arrogance, it’s just confidence.”
With such belief from all corners as to why Purdy deserves to be the starter, the make-up of his contract makes it an iron-clad case.
Over the next few seasons, Purdy stands to earn $1.22m in 2023, $1.38m in 2024 and $1.5m in 2025, figures that pale in comparison to some of the insane deals his QB compatriots across the league are on.
What makes it even more financially attractive is that the 49ers cannot negotiate an extension with Purdy until after 2024, saving the franchise plenty of money should they stick with him.
Garoppolo comes off contract at the end of the season and is all but set to move on from San Francisco, leaving a big question mark around Lance’s future.
Do the 49ers look to trade him, or will they opt to keep him?
According to Kawakimi, the franchise “will listen” to offers from teams across the league, but a trade does not appear to be “realistic.”
“They likely wouldn’t get value back for an injured player and they also still like Lance,” Kawakimi wrote.
“There’s no doubt that Purdy has been far better than what little they’ve seen from Lance in two seasons, but you don’t trade three first-round picks for somebody and then give up on him after he’s barely played.”
There’s no question Purdy’s stock is at an all-time high based on his record since taking over and it could skyrocket even further should the rookie lead San Francisco to victory over Philadelphia in the NFC Championship game on Monday.
Even if the 49ers are to bow out of the play-offs, fans can be giddy with optimism knowing they have three incredible assets at the QB position.
What they do with the trio going into next season will be one of the biggest storylines of the off-season.
But for Purdy, he’s become the biggest storyline when it’s mattered most.
