In the take world that is sports media, almost everything has to be done in absolutes. There is no between. You either love a player or you hate him; he’s the greatest of all time or should be on the streets.
That’s exactly what’s going on with Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers. There’s a large portion of people that believe Purdy could be searching for a new job in the near future if he can’t get his team over the hump and win the Super Bowl with Kyle Shanahan and all the weapons at his disposal.
Then, there are guys like Pat McAfee, who seem to think Brock Purdy is a top quarterback in the league outplaying former MVPs like Matt Ryan. On his show Thursday, McAfee commented that Purdy is running Shanahan’s offense better than both Jimmy Garoppolo and Matt Ryan, yet Purdy continues to receive criticism.
Pat McAfee just said Brock Purdy is running the Shanahan offense better than Matt Ryan did in 2016.
Such a hilarious take pic.twitter.com/M3iyaSlC0a
— FFYT (@_FootballFilms_) January 25, 2024
Like most things, the truth about where Brock Purdy is at right now in his career is somewhere in the middle. He’s not a top-five quarterback in the game, and he’s definitely not playing anywhere close to the level that Matt Ryan was playing at back in 2016.
I’m not going to rag on Pat McAfee too much. He’s on three hours a day and has probably watched 10 Falcons games in his lifetime, but he does need to be corrected.
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Matt Ryan 2016: 4,944 yards, 38 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 117.1 passer rating, 79.6 QBR
Brock Purdy 2023: 4,280 yards, 31 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 113.0 passer rating, 72.8 QBR
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Purdy’s having an impressive season, especially for a quarterback that’s only in his second season. If he continues to build off his 2023 campaign, he’ll certainly be viewed as one of the top quarterbacks in the game before long.
With that being said, Matt Ryan put up historic numbers in his MVP campaign. He was on another level than what Brock Purdy is playing at right now, and if Ryan had the benefit of playing with Kyle Shanahan his entire career, they’d be sizing him for a coat in Canton as we speak. There are levels to this, and right now, Brock Purdy isn’t on that level.
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Photographer: Todd Kirkland/Icon Sportswire
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