Brock Purdy

Brock Richard Purdy (born December 27, 1999) is an American professional football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa State Cyclones and was selected by the 49ers with the final pick in the 2022 NFL draft, becoming that year's Mr. Irrelevant.

Purdy began his rookie season in the NFL as the third-string quarterback but took the starting role following injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. Winning all five regular-season games that he started, Purdy played a key role in the 49ers securing a division title and an NFC Championship Game appearance. Purdy continued as the 49ers' starting quarterback in the 2023 season, where he led them to a repeat division title and led the league in multiple passing categories before an appearance in Super Bowl LVIII. Purdy also set the franchise's single season passing yards record and earned his first Pro Bowl selection.

Early life

Purdy was born on December 27, 1999, in Queen Creek, Arizona. He played high school football for Perry High School in Gilbert, Arizona. Purdy is the middle child of Shawn and Carrie Purdy. Shawn was a Minor League Baseball player for eight seasons. His older sister Whittney played softball at Southeastern University. His younger brother Chubba later became the starting quarterback at Perry before being recruited to Florida State as a dual-threat quarterback. As a youth, Purdy played quarterback in a flag football league. His father attributed Purdy's later success in part to the faster processing speed required to play flag football; quarterbacks were given seven seconds to dispose of the football before plays were blown dead.

Purdy started his varsity football career during the 2015 season as a sophomore for the newly opened Perry High School. In 2016, the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) adjusted the athletic regions, placing Perry in the 6A Division Premier Region, ranked as the sixth toughest region in the nation. Purdy's performance elevated Perry into the 6A Division AIA State Championship game in 2016 and 2017, losing 65–28 and 48–42, respectively, both to Chandler High School.

Purdy established himself as a football power in Arizona, competing against Chandler Unified School District's more established powerhouse programs such as Chandler High (0–5), Hamilton (4–2) and Basha (2–1). Purdy achieved a 27–13 record at Perry. He was named Gatorade's Football Player of the Year and was The Arizona Republic's high-school player of the year.

Purdy was considered a three-star prospect by 247Sports. He signed his letter of intent to commit to Iowa State University on February 7, 2018, enrolling in June of that year.

College career

Purdy entered his freshman year for the Cyclones in 2018 as the third string to Kyle Kempt and Zeb Noland. He became the starter after Kempt was injured and Noland was ineffective. Overall, Purdy started eight games, completing 146-of-220 passes for 2,250 yards, 16 touchdowns, and seven interceptions for what would prove to be a career-best 169.9 passer rating (sixth best in all NCAA football), and compiling a 7–2 record for the Cyclones. In addition, he rushed for 308 yards and five touchdowns.

During Purdy's sophomore season in 2019, he started all 13 games, compiling a 7–6 record. The year was highlighted by 435 yards and a school-record 510 total yards, along with three passing and three rushing touchdowns against Louisiana-Monroe, five passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in a narrow 42–41 loss to the then number 9 Oklahoma Sooners, and 372 yards with three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in a win over Kansas. He passed for a touchdown in 12 consecutive games and completed 39 passes against a single team, Oklahoma State—both school records. Purdy also led the Big 12 Conference in passing yards with 3,982 and was third in total touchdowns, 27 of them passing, which broke George Amundson's 41-year-old school record of 24 total touchdowns.

During Purdy's junior year in 2020, he and running back Breece Hall led the Cyclones to a 9–3 record (tied with the 2000 season for the best record in program history) and a number 9 national ranking, their highest in school history dating to 1895. Purdy had three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 45–0 shutout of Kansas State, followed two weeks later by completing 20-of-23 passes for three touchdowns and rushing for 38 yards and another touchdown during a 42–6 victory over West Virginia. In the Fiesta Bowl, Purdy passed and rushed for a touchdown in a 34–17 win over Oregon.

In his 2021 senior year, Purdy and Hall again led the Cyclones to a 7–6 record, highlighted by 307 yards and two touchdowns in a 24–21 victory over number 8 Oklahoma State. Purdy also had 356 yards and three touchdowns against Texas Tech, but Iowa State lost in a 41–38 shootout. The season was a disappointment to an Iowa State team ranked number 7 entering the season, but Purdy's 71.7 percent completion percentage and 3,188 yards again led the Big 12.

Purdy ended his time at Iowa State as a three-time All-Big 12 quarterback, holding 32 school records including career pass attempts, completions, percentage, yards, and both passing (81) and total (100) touchdowns. His 14 games with 300-plus passing yards was nearly triple the previous school record of five by Bret Meyer. Purdy's four years at Iowa State corresponded with the first time the school's football program had seen four consecutive winning seasons since 1923–1927. Purdy graduated from Iowa State in 2021 with a degree in communication studies.

College statistics

Professional career

2022

The San Francisco 49ers selected Purdy with the final pick (262nd overall) of the 2022 NFL draft, making him that year's Mr. Irrelevant. The Athletic later obtained the scouting report of another NFL team that evaluated Purdy but opted not to draft him; the report described Purdy as experienced and "works through his progressions very well" but "not a very good athlete...limited arm, both in strength and throw repertoire." After observing Purdy's subsequent performance in his first NFL season, the coach who authored the report told The Athletic that while Purdy's record in college was impressive, "The requirement to juke people and outrun people in college is a lot lower than it is in the NFL... In college, they might be able to outrun that D-end or pull away from that linebacker, but they got hawked down in the NFL. But Purdy has kinda maintained that and almost surpassed his level of agility in the NFL." The coach indicated that Purdy's performance in his first NFL season would likely have warranted being drafted in the second or third round, saying: "We undervalued his agility and probably the mental side, and San Francisco is perfect for it because they put a lot of importance on that because of their offense."

In October 2023, former 49er quarterback and Hall of Fame member Steve Young opined that Purdy was overlooked in the draft because his calmness under pressure would not have been apparent: "...the [quarterback] position is really about guile and an innate gift from heaven, in some ways, to be able to have your heart rate go down when everyone else is in anxiety and pressure... But in the NFL, very few are naturally at peace. And that's why when I compare him to Patrick Mahomes, I'm comparing him to how Patrick feels at peace. We all grew into it. Some guys just show up. Patrick showed up at peace, and so did Brock. The draft doesn't understand that thing."

Trey Lance was named the starter over Jimmy Garoppolo for the 2022 season, making Purdy the third-string quarterback. A week into training camp during the 2022 preseason, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told 49ers CEO Jed York that he thought Purdy was the team's best quarterback. According to York, Shanahan told him that nevertheless they would continue to invest in Lance as the starter: "Obviously we’ve invested in Trey and Trey's doing a good job and we're going to do everything that we can. We're not going to change that. And we're not going to change our depth chart. But I think Brock will end up being our quarterback." York publicly recounted this story ahead of Super Bowl LVIII, praising both Shanahan's candor and decision process: "...one thing that owners don't love to hear when they've invested money and/or draft picks or both into people is that the last pick in the draft is the guy that we think is the best. That’s generally not great news. But he's honest. And he let it play out the right way."

Lance appeared in only two games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2. During a Week 5 37–15 road victory over the Carolina Panthers, Purdy made his NFL debut, taking a knee to close out the game. Two weeks later against the Kansas City Chiefs, he relieved Garoppolo on the 49ers' last drive, throwing for 66 yards and an interception in the 44–23 loss. 49ers CEO York later said that Purdy's performance gave him some doubts: "I think Brock threw one ball into the stands. And I may or may not have had some sarcastic comments for Kyle postgame."