Mr. Relevant

Jude Magnotti ‘26
EE Sports Columnist

If you frequently keep up with the NFL you might have heard of this random quarterback for the 49ers named Brock Purdy. Four years of college, last pick in the draft, complete nobody right? WRONG! Because unless you have been living under a rock for the past year and a half, it would be impossible to not have witnessed the incredible journey of Brock Purdy from “Mr. Irrelevant” to the 49ers savior.

Since he took over as the starter against the Dolphins in 2022, Purdy has gone 20-5 and led the 49ers to back-to-back NFC Championship games. Now, with the 49ers banging on the door of the Super Bowl, fans can’t help but wonder: How did an undersized, unathletic Quarterback from a relatively weak college come in and so easily have made the NFL his personal plaything? Well strap in ladies and gentlemen because I am about to show you how Brock Purdy went from zero to hero in just over a year.

Brock Purdy was born in Queen Creek, Arizona and grew up playing football for Perry High School in Gilbert, Arizona. After achieving a 27-13 record in high school and being named Gatorade football player of the year, Purdy entered college as a three star prospect. While scouts marveled at his accuracy, many still had doubts about his size and arm talent.

He ended up committing to a low-end D1 school in Iowa State University in 2018. Even in college, Purdy always had to fight in order to move up the depth chart. Starting out, Purdy was the third string QB behind Kyle Kempt and Zeb Noland. Fortunately, after an injury to Kempt and poor play by Noland, Purdy finally was given a chance to prove himself to college football. He led the Cyclones to a 7-2 record and put up decent numbers overall.

Unfortunately, winning would not come so easy in 2019 with Purdy only finishing with a record of 7-6 in the games he started. While Purdy individually put up good numbers, the rest of the team was incompetent and it ultimately held him back. Fortunately in 2020 (with the help of Breece Hall), Purdy led his team to a 9-3 record before ultimately defeating Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.

Now in his senior year, Purdy once again led the Cyclones to a winning record, but declined statistically and his draft stock ultimately suffered for it. While his teammate Breece Hall was selected 36th overall by the Jets, Purdy had to wait over 261 picks for his name to be drafted by the 49ers with the last pick in the draft…”Mr. Irrelevant”.

The reason for teams’ lack of interest in Purdy has nothing to do with his maturity, but for teams concerns over his lack of athleticism or size. Scouts believed that Purdy lacked the playmaking ability necessary to being an effective quarterback at the NFL level. However here is where scouts got it horribly wrong.

 While scouts took one look at Purdy’s frame and assumed that he would lack the mobility necessary to extend plays, they overlooked the countless times that he made great throws outside the pocket. Purdy may not be super mobile, but he does not need to be in order to extend plays.Purdy is smart enough to get out of the pocket before the defense collapses on him and uses his frighteningly accurate arm to laser picture perfect dimes to his receivers on the run.

When defense tries to close off his exits out of the pocket, Purdy uses his greatest strength which is reading the defense. He is incredible at knowing where his receivers are located and this prevents him throwing as many interceptions as other quarterbacks. Purdy showed his mobility right away in his first start against the Dolphins, throwing touchdown passes to running backs Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Juszczyk in a 33-17 win.

Purdy then proceeded to go on an absolute tear winning every single one of his starts for the rest of the season before an untimely elbow injury ultimately snuffed the 49ers super bowl hopes out. Coming into the 2023 season, fans were skeptical to see if Purdy’s dominance would carry over into the next season. However, any haters Purdy may have had then, are completely quiet now.

Purdy finished the 2023-2024 season with over 4,000 yards and 31 touchdowns guiding the Niners to 12-5 record, good enough for the number 1 seed. With 3 playoff wins under his belt and the 49ers in the driver’s seat, the whole world watches to see if Mr. Irrelevant can guide the Niners to their first super bowl in almost 30 years.