Seemingly ever since San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy started having success in the NFL, there are those who have tried to discount his success by calling him a "checkdown" QB.
Tight end George Kittle is having none of that.
Appearing on the Rich Eisen Show, Kittle made sure to shut down any talk that Purdy is a checkdown quarterback, saying, "One of my favorite things about Purdy is that everyone calls him a checkdown merchant, and then the last two years he has the least amount of checkdowns in the NFL."
It is true that Purdy does not rely on his checkdown nearly as much as popular perception would would have one believe. An analysis of the 2023 NFL season showed that Purdy checked the ball down the ninth-lowest among quarterbacks.
💻 @gkittle46
Has the @49ers All-Pro tight end been as surprised as the rest of us at the lack of offseason drama in San Francisco?#NFL #FTTB pic.twitter.com/9SnTfYWsbm
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) June 16, 2025
Similar to the whole "system quarterback" label, the "checkdown" narrative is really just used to argue that Purdy's success is a result of the weapons he has around him rather than any skills of his own.
While Purdy has been the beneficiary of great skill players around him, he has stilll proven that he can make highly difficult throws in high-pressure situations. Plus, other quarterbacks are not penalized in the same way as Purdy even when they too have a plethora of offensive weapons to throw to or hand the ball off to.
Kittle went on to defend Purdy even more when Eisen brought up the fact that the narrative around Purdy now has turned to, "Is he worth it?" after he signed a lucrative extension this offseason. Kittle said Purdy is absolutely worth it given all of the winning he has done in San Francisco, but in a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, he could not help but poke some fun at his high-paid QB.
The fun-loving tight end will always get his jabs in, but he is also always going to defend his quarterback no matter what.
Purdy is going to be the signal caller in San Francisco for a while, and the narrative about him being a "checkdown" or "system" quarterback are likely going to persist. We know those critiques make Purdy laugh so he is probably the least bothered by the laziness out of anyone.
Kittle and Niners fans know the truth about Purdy and that is what really matters.
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