Three 49ers offensive stars missed major camp time. It’s Brock Purdy’s job to eliminate their rust.
SANTA CLARA — It’s not like Brock Purdy has grown in stature, although his thighs have taken on a Bosa-like quality through work in the weight room.
Yet it’s pretty clear Purdy has seized control of the 49ers’ offense, if not the team. The false narrative of Purdy being a mechanical ball distributor on behalf of coach Kyle Shanahan is history, or at least it should be.
The 49ers open the 2024 season Monday night at Levi’s Stadium against the New York Jets. Purdy has won over most skeptics, although in certain quarters of mainstream and social media there will be doubters if for no other reason than to present a contrary opinion.
It was Purdy who saved the 49ers from the disastrous decision to trade up for Trey Lance, giving them a quarterback who in retrospect would have been worthy of the No. 3 overall pick himself.
While it would be nice for the 49ers to have some more depth courtesy of the picks shipped out for Lance, the 49ers remain viable division, conference and even Super Bowl contenders with Purdy if for no other reason than he has already proven his worth.
Leave it to Trent Williams, the 49ers’ future Hall of Fame left tackle and philosopher, to put the Brock experience in perspective.
“If there’s any great American story that you can look for in the NFL, it’s this one right here,” Williams said Tuesday. “Nobody ever thought that he could do what he did.”
The last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft got the 49ers to the NFC championship game before having his elbow shredded as a rookie and then to the Super Bowl in Year 2. Even for a franchise with Joe Montana and Steve Young, this is uncharted territory for someone with two years of experience.
Purdy is 17-4 in 21 starts, 4-2 in six playoff games at age 24. He has been the best quarterback on the field when matched against Tua Tagovaiola, Tom Brady, Dak Prescott, Jalen Hurts, Jordan Love and Jared Goff. He lost games against Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, who have four MVP awards between them, and Joe Burrow, who might win one someday.
So Purdy is not perfect, although his combination of efficiency and spontaneity exceeds all expectations.
Next up is Aaron Rodgers of the Jets, who has four MVPs himself while a member of the Green Bay Packers.
Through it all, Purdy’s off-field persona hasn’t changed although he has become a fairly popular commercial pitch-man. He just got married and with another good season will have untold riches — $50 million or more per season — headed his way. He’s put a 25-22 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and Mahomes in Super Bowl LVIII in the rearview mirror.
“It’s about 2024,” Purdy said Friday. “We played that game in February and now it’s already a new season. It’s been like that since we got back for OTAs. It’s a long season, a marathon. We knew what it takes and Monday night for us, it’s the start of a whole new journey. Excited for it.”
Purdy has been the one constant in an uneven training camp on offense that has seen training camp absences from Williams and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk due to contractual issues. Christian McCaffrey, a pace-setting practice warrior, has missed considerable time because of a calf/Achilles injury.
Aiyuk is an electric outside threat who landed a four-year contract worth a maximum of $120 million. Williams is a surefire Hall of Famer on the first ballot who just signed an extension that could bring him as much as $82.7 million. McCaffrey got his two-year extension in late July after being named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year.
Those three big names missed considerable practice time this summer. A quarterback in the last year of his rookie deal making just under $1 million in salary will have more to say about the 49ers’ season than any of them.
If Purdy has any concerns, he’s not going to put them into words.
“We’ve had so many game reps and experience together that we understand, just from watching our film and being back together with the time we’ve had so far,” Purdy said. “We understand how we move, how we operate and how we play within this system and with each other. Trent was gone, but when he’s come back in, it feels good. It feels natural when I’m dropping back with him there.
“The same with B.A. and his routes throwing to him. It all feels pretty normal. Same with Christian. But we’re going to have to adjust and adapt on the fly.”
One of the things people miss about Purdy is his skill as an anticipatory thrower — feathering a touch pass into a spot before the receiver has even reached his mark. Not every quarterback can do it. Colin Kaepernick, for all his ability, couldn’t do it. It also eluded Jimmy Garoppolo.
The biggest challenge will be with Aiyuk, given the timing involved and the nature of the 49ers’ myriad pass routes and options. After Aiyuk was under contract, the two worked on regaining their timing away from the rest of the team.
“I’m not going to lie, it feels pretty normal,” Purdy said. “I remember how B.A. moves and if you ask me, I feel like we’ve been connecting pretty well.”
Whether Purdy acknowledges it publicly or not, the 49ers could be a little rusty on offense because of the practice absences. It was a fairly uneven training camp in terms of the passing game, with Purdy clustering interceptions a few times while intentionally forcing the issue but also hitting plenty of tight-window throws.
The good news is the 49ers will be specifically tailoring a game plan to an opponent for the first time, and Shanahan has a pretty good idea what Jets coach Robert Saleh, his former defensive coordinator, likes to do on defense.
“You could just tell it branches back to when Saleh was here,” Purdy said. “They know we’re familiar with their defense and we have to be ready for anything else they can throw our way.”
Which ought to suit Purdy just fine, considering how deftly he’s handled everything thrown his way so far.