San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy was the last pick in the 2022 NFL draft, but he wasn’t bothered by that or the “Mr. Irrelevant” label that comes with it. Instead, Purdy took it as proof that NFL teams thought he had a lot to improve, and then he got to work on improving.
Purdy said on KNBR 680 that he’s the first person to give honest assessments of himself, and looking at his own college tape, he recognizes things he needed to do better.
“You look at the last two years of my film in college and everything like that, [and] there’s some parts of my game where, yeah, I had to work and improve on,” Purdy said, via NBCSportsBayArea.com. “I’m honest and open about that with myself. But there’s always this part of me where I’ve been like when I’m playing my best football, I know I can play at the next level and take a team down the field and be the guy on the team to help us win and put points up on the board. So, I’ve always believed in myself, but there were areas of my game that I had to clean up, so that’s something I’m not secretive about or anything. I’m open about it, I’m real with myself.”
It’s to Purdy’s credit that he immediately got to work on getting better, and it’s a huge benefit to the 49ers that Purdy didn’t just view his rookie season as a redshirt year: He was getting himself ready to play, and after the 49ers lost both Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, Purdy had to play. He has played surprisingly well, and he’s a big reason the 49ers are now among the best teams in the NFL as they head into the playoffs.