Eric Williams
NFL Reporter
When Brock Purdy was about to make his first NFL begin two years in the past — in opposition to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Matt Hasselbeck started a deep dive into the San Francisco 49ers quarterback.
Hasselbeck did what any good analyst would do — he talked to those that knew the QB finest. A type of individuals was Seneca Wallace, his former teammate with the Seattle Seahawks, who, like Purdy, performed at Iowa State.
Hasselbeck stated he was shocked to obtain an extended textual content of accolades about San Francisco’s new beginning quarterback.
“It began out with: ‘Moxie. Higher than individuals notice. 41 begins to his profession. Throws a catchable ball. Approach higher athlete than individuals notice,'” Hasselbeck informed FOX Sports activities. “It was like all these constructive issues. Seneca is a superb dude, however he additionally retains it actual. He would not simply throw compliments out. So, that caught out to me straight away.
“I’ve at all times thought Purdy’s an excellent participant. It is form of wonderful to me that everybody needs to make an excuse for his success due to the pinnacle coach or the expertise round him. However I am actually in no way shocked.”
Like Purdy, Hasselbeck was a late-round draft choose who needed to grind his strategy to a beginning quarterback job within the NFL. One other late-round choose, one who ascended to grow to be the best participant in NFL historical past, can be calling the Cardinals-49ers sport for FOX on Sunday. Hasselbeck sees some similarities between Purdy and Brady, pushing again on Purdy’s “sport supervisor” tag.
“I do not have a look at ‘sport supervisor’ as a adverse phrase, as a result of I imagine one of the best sport supervisor of all time was Tom Brady,” Hasselbeck stated. “And possibly I’d use a distinct phrase. I’d say sport controller. I’m accountable for this sport. I dictate how this sport goes.
“There are some quarterbacks who play like a sport supervisor, like, ‘Let’s examine what the protection does’ and can sort of play it this manner. And there are different quarterbacks which can be like, ‘I do not care. And we do not care.’ And that is what I see out of the 49ers. They’re positively a type of groups which can be like, ‘We dictate the way it goes.’”
A lot has been stated about how Purdy would carry out with out Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle, who’ve missed time early this season attributable to accidents. However up to now, Purdy has put up the identical spectacular stats with out his frontline gamers, quieting those that doubted his skill to steer a staff as a franchise quarterback.
Purdy is second within the NFL in passing yards (1,130) and sixth in passer score (104.9). He is additionally close to the highest of the league in some superior metrics like EPA per drop again (No. 3 at 45.4) and is No. 1 within the league with 18 cross completions of 20-plus yards.
By means of his first 25 NFL begins, Purdy has accomplished 69.1% of his passes for six,508 yards, with 47 touchdowns. His passer score of 112.6 is the best of any quarterback in his first 25 video games since 1970.
Purdy received his first NFL win in opposition to Brady, a 35-7 victory at Levi’s Stadium on Dec. 11, 2022. General, Purdy is 19-6 because the Niners’ starter and helped to steer San Francisco to the brink of a Tremendous Bowl victory final yr in opposition to the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, who gained in time beyond regulation.
Earlier than getting into his third NFL season, Purdy stated he needs to be extra like Brady, exhibiting a constant skill to shut out video games and put groups away.
“It is having that Tom Brady sort of feeling,” Purdy informed the San Francisco Chronicle in July. “Late within the sport, it at all times felt like Tom was simply gonna take over and never make it shut. I really feel like I can get to that.”
Somebody aware of that mindset is Joe Montana, the best quarterback in 49ers historical past.
“He is been doing an excellent job,” Montana informed FOX Sports activities of Purdy. “He understands the offense, the individuals round him and what their capabilities are. He would not pressure balls. However he additionally understands when there is a time to pressure it. He is managed the offense effectively.
“Normally, the staff who turns the ball over the least finally ends up having one of the best probability to win. And he would not [turn it over] so much. He understands it is easy to dump the ball down as a result of, similar to when John [Taylor] and Jerry [Rice] have been round, you possibly can dump the ball down there and people guys may go the space simply. He is received these sorts of weapons on his aspect, and he understands how one can use them.”
Joe Montana knew that along with the deep photographs, he may dump the ball right down to Jerry Rice and let him do the remainder. (Picture by Peter Learn Miller/Sports activities Illustrated through Getty Pictures)
Dan Manucci served as Purdy’s non-public quarterback coach from his freshman yr in highschool till the lead as much as the 2022 NFL Draft. What he noticed in Purdy again then was a laser-focused athlete prepared to do something to make it to the best stage.
“He could be like, ‘Thanks sir, might I’ve one other? What else do you’ve for me?'” Manucci informed FOX Sports activities. “So, after I see that, with all of the stuff that Brian Griese and Kyle Shanahan are throwing at him, he is aware of how one can drink out of the fireplace hose and never have it spew out in every single place.
“He at all times discovered how one can course of shortly, cope with the knowledge after which talk it out on the sphere. After which on high of that, he is by no means had that deer within the headlights look. And if there’s one thing that is overwhelming for him, he’ll get it found out. He is at all times constructing. After we textual content one another, his mantra is, ‘Let’s maintain shifting ahead. Let’s maintain constructing.’ So, he is a constructing blocks sort of man. He is by no means happy with what he is doing.”
Requested for an instance of Purdy’s skill to manage a sport, Hasselbeck pointed to the QB’s pinpoint cross in opposition to the New England Patriots final Sunday. The Patriots tried to bait him to throw to a receiver on an beneath route that they made look open, with a defensive lineman dropping into protection to intercept the ball.
Nevertheless, Purdy didn’t take the cheese.
“Jerod Mayo deserves an award for the way excellent the defensive name was, however he did not take the bait,” Hasselbeck stated. “As an alternative, he realized the one alternative he had — and it was an excellent alternative. It was prefer it’s us or no one, it is third-and-10 and we received a subject aim sort of a thought. However he offers Kittle a possibility.
“Know your personnel. Give him an opportunity to the touch, compete and go battle for the ball. And he’ll make that play. You already know your man. And it was a landing. And it was most likely one of many extra spectacular touchdowns I noticed this week. It was arrange for him to throw an interception. And as a substitute, he places a dagger within the coronary heart of the Patriots.”
Hasselbeck stated these forms of decision-making expertise are what makes Purdy a sport controller and top-of-the-line quarterbacks within the NFL. Purdy could make each throw on the sphere, and he seldom misses the simple lay-ups when Shanahan has schemed somebody open for an enormous play.
“Finally, I feel what’s nice about this quarterback and this staff, is it makes the protection defend the entire subject,” Hasselbeck stated. “They’ve the power to maneuver the pocket. They will play the drop-back sport, the empty sport, the big-people sport. And I feel he is actually achieved a very good job of what I check with as ‘KYP’ — know your personnel.”
That has been particularly necessary for Purdy early this season, together with his high playmakers out and in of the lineup.
“It is not essentially about who is not on the market, however who’s on the market,” Hasselbeck stated. “And he does a very good job of throwing the suitable ball to the suitable particular person.”
It is all about controlling the sport.
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for greater than a decade, masking the Los Angeles Rams for Sports activities Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma Information Tribune. Comply with him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.
[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]
Get extra from Nationwide Soccer League Comply with your favorites to get details about video games, information and extra