Brock Purdy is one of the few 2022 NFL Draft quarterbacks still on their original clubs, and he’s the only one who has genuinely thrived thus far.
What’s more astounding is that Purdy has led the San Francisco 49ers to the NFC Championship Game twice and the Super Bowl once in his first two seasons as starter — and he’s done it without the advantage of a full summer as the team’s quarterback.
Purdy, the final pick in the 2022 draft, spent his rookie offseason scrounging for any reps he could get as the team’s third quarterback. Purdy spent the winter rehabilitating the ruptured elbow ligaments he sustained in the conference final game defeat to the Eagles.
On Sunday, Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan told NFL Network’s Steve Wyche that more repetition this summer could lead to even better outcomes for Purdy.
“Everything is about repetition. “You can learn it right away, but it’s about going through it,” Shanahan said at the Annual League Meeting in Orlando, Florida. “Brock has experienced a lot in these games over the last two years, which has been fantastic for him. However, the only way to improve is to practice and drill it again. It’s all about completing those 10,000 repetitions.
“He spent last year knowing exactly what he needed to accomplish, but he was just concerned with getting his arm healthy. Now he knows what he needs to do in the offseason: work on his feet, arm, and thinking. “Just getting in some reps.”
Purdy, the erstwhile Mr. Irrelevant in the 2022 draft, has been the only bright spot from that QB class thus far. He has far outperformed the eight quarterbacks drafted ahead of him, with Kenny Pickett, Desmond Ridder, and Sam Howell recently traded to other teams as potential backups to open the 2024 season and none of the other five expected to start anywhere else.
“It shows how hard it is to play quarterback in this league,” Shanahan told Wyche on Sunday. “There are 32 teams, but there are absolutely not 32 players. Even when you have [one], there is pressure on a guy to do it week after week. It’s a team game that relies on so many different
