Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Sam Darnold has signed with the Seattle Seahawks. In his introductory press conference, he thanked his old teammate Brock Purdy for helping to elevate his game.
The clip where Darnold gives Purdy a shout out can be viewed here. In the clip, Darnold says, "I really, you know, thank Brock a ton, Brock Purdy, for, you know, just his style of play and how he kind of described his style as, like, 'We got a ton of great playmakers on offense. My job is just to play point guard and get the ball in their hands and let them go do great things with the rock.'"
Darnold went on to say that adopting that same mindset allowed him to unlock some things in his game. He went on to have a very good season with the Minnesota Vikings last season, passing for 4,312 yards while throwing 35 touchdown passes compared to 12 interceptions. He didn’t have his best game in the playoffs against the Los Angeles Rams, but he did enough to convince the Seahawks to move on from Geno Smith in favor of him.
Darnold’s praise of Purdy speaks to the maturity and selflessness that the 49ers’ signal caller has. Purdy is two years younger than Darnold and has not been in the league as long, but he was still able to provide wisdom that helped another player take his game to the next level.
Perhaps the fact that Darnold, coming out out of USC with a lot of hype, was selected 3rd overall in the 2018 NFL Draft by the New York Jets made him feel like he had to be “the guy” who was making big plays and forcing the issue.
Purdy has intuitively understood that if he can be an effective facilitator of the ball, that is all that is required to win in the NFL especially when he has all of his weapons at his disposal like he did during the 2023 season. We saw last year, as the injuries piled up, that Purdy may have tried to force the issue more and play hero ball which may have gotten him into trouble at times. Joe Montana even said as much when asked about Purdy’s 2024 struggles.
Maybe Darnold’s praise can serve as a good reminder for Purdy that he does not need to do everything on his own. One can forgive him for feeling that way with the lack of protection his offensive line gave him at times last season coupled with the bevy of injuries the team sustained. But if San Francisco can clear the low bar of being healthier than they were last season, perhaps Purdy can get back to being the point guard he was in 2023.
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