Brock Purdy was never supposed to be the San Francisco 49ers‘ starting quarterback.
Considering that he was Mr. Irrelevant in the 2022 NFL Draft, nobody expected him to amount to much, given how this draft position hasn’t yielded relevant players throughout league history.
That has changed since Purdy took over the starting role in San Francisco, a job he’s held onto when healthy.
The 49ers confirmed his standing within the organization with a massive contract extension, a decision that has been met with some scrutiny.
Many fans and media members indicated that Purdy had an off-year in 2024 and didn’t necessarily deserve this contract.
Analyst Jason McIntyre pushed back on this in a recent appearance on ‘Herd with Colin Cowherd,’ indicating that Purdy was better than many gave him credit for.
“Brock Purdy was not that bad last year. Brock Purdy in his down year—the numbers say he was better than Justin Herbert, Matt Stafford, and C.J. Stroud last year,” McIntyre said.
Is Brock Purdy on his way to being the next Tom Brady? 🐐 @jasonrmcintyre pic.twitter.com/RWX0T0jqnS
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) August 27, 2025
He later noted, “You know who you sound like? The guy who was bagging on Tom Brady early in his career. ‘He’s a game manager.’ You kept saying that about Brady until you couldn’t say it anymore, and he became the greatest quarterback in NFL history.”
Comparing Purdy to Tom Brady is a bold statement, but his sentiment could be correct.
He’s illustrating a point that people have counted Purdy out because of the team he plays for and the system that he’s in.
This assertion makes it seem like Purdy isn’t a strong quarterback and that if he played in another system, he wouldn’t have panned out the way he did.
McIntyre is effectively saying that Purdy couldn’t choose his landing spot when he was drafted, and he’s only working with what’s in front of him, the system he’s a part of.
Fans are excited to see what Purdy and the 49ers accomplish this season, especially since last year was a let-down given their preseason expectations.
NEXT: Christian McCaffrey Had Candid Advice For Brock Purdy