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The San Francisco 49ers liked Brock Purdy a lot heading into the 2022 NFL Draft, but not quite enough to use an early pick on him.
Speaking on the Tom Tolbert Show, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed that the front office initially gave the Iowa State quarterback a fourth-round grade. Despite that high internal grade, the team decided to wait because they understood how the rest of the league typically scouts and values quarterbacks of Purdy’s size and athletic profile.
Knowing the media and other front offices hadn't caught up to their evaluation, they gambled that he would slip through the cracks.
"Based off our experience, I don't think he'll get drafted," Shanahan recalled. "And we said that, but maybe we will if we're in the seventh, if we have an extra one."
Once training camp rolled around that summer, Purdy immediately began flashing the traits that caught the staff's eye, even while veterans Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo took all the first-team reps and media headlines.
"I remember [49ers owner] Jed [York] coming in after a lot of training camp practices and always [asking], 'Who's looking better, Jimmy or Trey?'" Shanahan said. "And it was a couple days I was frustrated and I was just like, 'I'm just telling you, it's the third guy.' It's that guy... And he's like, 'What? Who?' I'm like, 'I'm just telling you it's him.'"
While a brief, regular-season appearance in relief against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7 didn't look perfect, the definitive turning point came a few weeks later against the Miami Dolphins in Week 13 when Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a broken ankle, forcing the rookie into the fire. Trey Lance had won the starting job heading into the 2022 season, but had suffered a bad ankle injury himself in Week 2.
Purdy completed 25-of-37 passes for 210 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a huge 33-17 win. The gravity of the situation didn't fully process for Shanahan until he got home after the game and lay awake processing the state of the roster.
“That night in bed, that might’ve been the first time where I was like 'We might have something special', because I was so sick because I thought we had such a good team and Trey Lance was already on IR and Jimmy Garoppolo just broke his ankle," Shanahan said. "I’m home that night not even thinking about the game, I was just like, how we’re down to our last quarterback. We had such a good team and once I stopped thinking about it in bed, I was like 'Holy crap. Brock played unbelievably tonight.'”
From that night on, Purdy took total control of the offense, permanently changing the trajectory of the franchise and proving the team's initial fourth-round film grade completely right. He won his next five regular-season starts for the 49ers that year, then won two playoff games before getting injured himself in the 2022 NFC Championship game and losing to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Purdy remained the 49ers' starting quarterback from then on, going 25-15 over the next three seasons as well as winning three of five playoff games.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Kyle Shanahan’s striking 2022 admission to Jed York about Brock Purdy
Continue reading...
Speaking on the Tom Tolbert Show, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed that the front office initially gave the Iowa State quarterback a fourth-round grade. Despite that high internal grade, the team decided to wait because they understood how the rest of the league typically scouts and values quarterbacks of Purdy’s size and athletic profile.
Knowing the media and other front offices hadn't caught up to their evaluation, they gambled that he would slip through the cracks.
"Based off our experience, I don't think he'll get drafted," Shanahan recalled. "And we said that, but maybe we will if we're in the seventh, if we have an extra one."
Once training camp rolled around that summer, Purdy immediately began flashing the traits that caught the staff's eye, even while veterans Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo took all the first-team reps and media headlines.
"I remember [49ers owner] Jed [York] coming in after a lot of training camp practices and always [asking], 'Who's looking better, Jimmy or Trey?'" Shanahan said. "And it was a couple days I was frustrated and I was just like, 'I'm just telling you, it's the third guy.' It's that guy... And he's like, 'What? Who?' I'm like, 'I'm just telling you it's him.'"
While a brief, regular-season appearance in relief against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7 didn't look perfect, the definitive turning point came a few weeks later against the Miami Dolphins in Week 13 when Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a broken ankle, forcing the rookie into the fire. Trey Lance had won the starting job heading into the 2022 season, but had suffered a bad ankle injury himself in Week 2.
Purdy completed 25-of-37 passes for 210 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a huge 33-17 win. The gravity of the situation didn't fully process for Shanahan until he got home after the game and lay awake processing the state of the roster.
“That night in bed, that might’ve been the first time where I was like 'We might have something special', because I was so sick because I thought we had such a good team and Trey Lance was already on IR and Jimmy Garoppolo just broke his ankle," Shanahan said. "I’m home that night not even thinking about the game, I was just like, how we’re down to our last quarterback. We had such a good team and once I stopped thinking about it in bed, I was like 'Holy crap. Brock played unbelievably tonight.'”
From that night on, Purdy took total control of the offense, permanently changing the trajectory of the franchise and proving the team's initial fourth-round film grade completely right. He won his next five regular-season starts for the 49ers that year, then won two playoff games before getting injured himself in the 2022 NFC Championship game and losing to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Purdy remained the 49ers' starting quarterback from then on, going 25-15 over the next three seasons as well as winning three of five playoff games.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Kyle Shanahan’s striking 2022 admission to Jed York about Brock Purdy
Continue reading...
