49ers' Kyle Shanahan says there should be no debate about how consistent QB Brock Purdy has been

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Brock Purdy has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL since he began playing as a rookie in 2022. The San Francisco 49ers selected Purdy with the last pick in this year's draft. He started as the team's number four QB, but quickly moved up to number three and made the team out of training camp.

When starting QB Trey Lance was sidelined with a season-ending injury, Purdy moved to QB2 behind Jimmy Garoppolo. But when Garoppolo was out for the season, Purdy was thrust into the QB1 role, and the 49ers haven't looked back since. Neither does Purdy.

How good was Purdy? First of all, Purdy has the highest passer rating (112.6) in NFL history through a player's first 25 games. That's just ahead of quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. Last week, 49ers star edge rusher Nick Bosa said on a podcast: “When Jimmy went out in 2022, I thought our season was over…Then he played great in the Dolphins game and I thought, 'Okay, That was good, but.' You know…' and then he dominates against Tom Brady and he keeps proving me, the whole team and the whole country and the whole world wrong. We were definitely lucky with him.”

On Friday, head coach Kyle Shanahan joined Greg Papa on “49ers Game Plan” on NBC Sports Bay Area. Dad noted Purdy's record as a starting QB (19-6), as well as some of the 49ers' QB records, such as passing yards, completion percentage and touchdowns. But Dad said one record that caught his eye is that the 49ers are averaging 29.6 points per game with Purdy at quarterback. There have been many historic career starts since the merger in 1970, but the 49ers' record with Purdy is the best in NFL history at 25 games. Patrick Mahomes is second. Tom Brady is fourth. It's amazing what Purdy has accomplished so far.

“I'd like to say he played the whole time, but I always remember the first Miami game and how incredible he was off the bench and put in a very difficult situation,” Shanahan said . “The way they played us just under duress, with all the blitzes, similar to what we saw in Minnesota the last two years, and the way we played that game kind of showed how everything else was going to go “The more guys play, the more scars they get, and what was incredible with Brock, that first year, the seven games or whatever, he went through almost every situation that year, off the bench, on high Play at a level, have to play as a starter, break your ribs and have to play four days later on Thursday, get through that, get through a playoff game, win a playoff game and then have something like this: I suffer a serious injury at the end of the year, which poses a big risk to come back next year.”

Purdy responded tremendously in 2023, leading the NFL in passer rating, QBR, TD%, yards per attempt, yards per completion, net yards gained per pass attempt and more. He finished fourth in NFL MVP voting and sixth in Offensive Player of the Year voting. He had a special season and in 2024, Purdy was even better than he was a year ago, especially considering he didn't have the weapons to rely on, unlike in 2022 and 2023.

“He was able to come back, push through it, handle all the pressure all year long, play at an MVP level and handle it. He took us to a Super Bowl, played a four-pick game and then bounced back. “Next week and he's been through everything in such a short amount of time, and I don't understand what he is, there shouldn't be any discussion, like that.” consistent like everyone else. This is what I see with my own eyes when I hear statistics like this. It's just an even greater confirmation of what we're seeing.

Although the 49ers have lacked red zone offense so far in 2024, largely due to the absence of star RB Christian McCaffrey, Purdy and the offense have moved the ball at a high level. If they can work out some early season issues, this offense has the potential to be one of the best in the league. And Purdy is the main reason why.

Watch Shanahan's full interview on NBC Sports Bay Area: