Brock Purdy has already accomplished quite a bit in his young NFL career. Since taking over as the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback late in the 2022 season, Purdy has consistently played at a high level. He's set 49ers passing records, made the Pro Bowl, and came within a hair of winning a Super Bowl in overtime. And he appears to be getting better.
According to Kyle Shanahan, however, the biggest growth has come in an area that isn't always reflected on the stat sheet. Shanahan recently sat down with NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco and explained that Purdy now has a much better understanding of why the 49ers are doing what they're doing offensively. "I think it's like knowing the whys with everything," Shanahan said. "I mean, Brock, he was so successful right away, that's why I feel like what he's done isn't that much different just because he's played so well since the beginning."
Shanahan doesn't believe Purdy suddenly became a dramatically different quarterback. The 49ers were fortunate enough to get a quarterback who could step into a difficult situation as a seventh-round rookie and immediately play winning football.
As Shanahan put it, Purdy has now accumulated experiences that simply weren't available to him as a rookie. He's played with leads. He's had to come from behind. He's seen heavy blitzes and different coverage structures. He's faced defenses that are willing to concede underneath completions and force the offense to patiently move the ball.
He's seen just about everything an NFL defense can throw at him. "We've gone through every scheme to attack certain coverages to where now I think when you know exactly what the look is, you know why we're doing it, and you're not just taking someone's word for it, I think you're just more confident," Shanahan added.
That confidence allows Purdy to play faster. Instead of simply knowing what he's supposed to do, he understands the reasoning behind the decision. That gives him the ability to recognize a defensive look, anticipate what is coming, and get off a particular read more quickly. "You can get off things faster, you know when you have the right thing, you can anticipate a little bit better," Shanahan said. "And the more your experiences go, the stronger that gets."
That's perhaps the most important part of Purdy's development. The physical ability was there from the beginning. So was the ability to process the offense and make plays under pressure. But the amount of experience he has to draw from when he's standing at the line of scrimmage is a huge difference-maker. Every blitz, coverage rotation, and difficult game situation gives him another reference point.
And Shanahan believes that has made Purdy a more confident player. Of course, the coach also pointed to something beyond the X's and O's when discussing what has impressed him most about his quarterback. It's Purdy's mental makeup.
"He's never too high, never too low," Shanahan said. "He's so consistent in everything he does." That's something Shanahan says he noticed from the beginning, but it has remained a defining characteristic of Purdy.
The 49ers head coach also praised Purdy for the way he handles mistakes. Rather than looking for someone else to blame when something goes wrong, Purdy takes responsibility. Shanahan said there have even been times when he has pointed out that a mistake wasn't entirely his fault, explaining that another player or circumstance contributed to what happened. Purdy's response, according to Shanahan, is essentially that he still could have made a better throw.
"And it's genuine," Shanahan said. "It's not just talk. It's not just trying to sound right and say the right thing. It's truly who he is."
What Shanahan is seeing now is a quarterback who has a much deeper understanding of the game than he did when he first took over. Purdy isn't just executing the offense anymore. He's accumulated enough experience to understand why the offense is asking him to do certain things, recognize when a defense is giving him something different, and react accordingly. And it's showing. Purdy is playing at the highest level he's played so far.
Watch the full interview below:
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