Purdy and Jordan Love climbed 13 spots. Purdy was the 13th quarterback overall.
Let’s take a break from roster cuts and delve into Mike Sando’s annual quarterback tiers. There are five tiers:
Tier I: A QB can carry his team each week. The team wins because of him. He expertly handles pure-passing situations. He has no real holes in his game.
The three quarterbacks in the first tier were Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Josh Allen. I’m in the minority here, but I’d take Lamar Jackson over both the latter two and would rather have C.J. Stroud and Matthew Stafford over Burrow without thinking twice.
Tier II: A QB can carry his team sometimes, but not as consistently. He can handle pure-passing situations in doses and/or possesses other dimensions that are special enough to elevate him above Tier III. He has a hole or two in his game.
This tier had Lamar, Stafford, Justin Herbert, Aaron Rodgers, Stroud, Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Jalen Hurts, Brock Purdy, Kirk Cousins, and Jordan Love.
Purdy jumps two tiers from last season and came in as QB13:
Purdy rose 13 spots from 2023, tying Jordan Love for the largest jump from last year. His 2.32 average vote is the best for a 49ers quarterback in Tiers history (Colin Kaepernick, 2.50 in 2014).
“When they have had to move the ball via dropback pass, that has been the difference between him and Jimmy (Garoppolo),” a head coach said. “Purdy has done it, and he’s done it in moments where he had to pull the ball down against Detroit and go get a first down with his legs. He has an innate feel. He has proven even when it’s not going well, he’s a quarter away from clicking in, and you’d better have a lead when he does.”
Rough games against Baltimore and Cleveland were exceptions.
“The system really helps, but he maximizes it,” a defensive coordinator said. “I’m not saying he is Kurt Warner, but he reminds me of that type of body. Not big, not a great arm, but he’s accurate, he knows when to get rid of the ball, he’s sharp, he’s a little bit better athlete than you think.”
Warner had even better talent around him while with the Rams.
“I honestly could debate calling Brock a 1,” an offensive play caller said. “He is really underrated. Kyle Shanahan deserves a ton of credit, but there still has to be somebody at the switch.”
The 16 voters placing Purdy in Tier 3 gave more credit to Shanahan and a strong supporting cast.
“I would slide him to the top of 3,” an assistant GM said. “I’m not sold that it is a universal skill set for varying systems. But for their system and their offense, they greatly capitalize on what his abilities are. That is a credit to the coaching staff.”
If you can get past traditional stats and acknowledge mistakes happen, Purdy was extremely effective when the 49ers needed him the most in the biggest moments of the playoffs last season.
Everybody in the stadium knew the 49ers needed to throw the ball late against the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, and Kansas City Chiefs. Purdy led scoring drives in each game and would have led a touchdown drive had it not been for a blown assignment upfront on third down in the Super Bowl.
I’d rather have Purdy than Goff and Hurts. We’ve also seen nothing in clutch situations from Dak. Comparisons to Jimmy G quickly passed, as it took a couple of starts from Purdy as a rookie to realize the 49ers had a different beast under center.
How high can Purdy climb? That’s the next part of the equation, and it’ll likely be answered this season.