There are fair criticisms of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy despite his 7-0 record as a starter. He lacks a lot of the physical tools typically possessed by top-end quarterbacks, and some analysts will dock his production because of the offense he plays in and the weapons that surround him. While the nitpicks are sure to continue as long as he’s under center for San Francisco, there’s one area Purdy is undeniably elite.
Since becoming the 49ers No. 1 quarterback in Week 13 last season, Purdy has dominated in the intermediate area of the field. Intermediate throws are classified as throws 10-19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
Buy 49ers TicketsPurdy as a rookie completed a whopping 80.4 percent of his intermediate throws – by far the highest completion rate in the league. Deshaun Watson led qualified passers at 68.4 percent.
That number was primed for regression in 2023, but through two games he’s actually been better. This season he’s 13-of-14, raising his career completion rate on intermediate passes to 83.3 percent.
But wait! There’s more!
Purdy’s first game action last year came in garbage time of a Week 7 blowout loss to the Chiefs. He went three-of-five on intermediate throws for 57 yards with an interception.
If we remove the Chiefs garbage time the numbers get even crazier.
Over the last two seasons as San Francisco’s QB1, Purdy is 47-of-55 for 789 yards with four touchdowns and one interception on intermediate throws. That’s good for a passer rating of 135.4, an 85.4 percent completion rate, 14.3 yards per attempt, a 7.2 percent touchdown rate and a 1.8 percent interception rate.
For comparison, Patrick Mahomes last season had a 61.8 percent completion rate on 157 pass attempts in the intermediate area with 11.4 yards per attempt, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Joe Burrow completed 60.8 percent of 158 attempts at 10.7 yards per attempt with 10 touchdowns and seven picks on those same throws.
Jalen Hurts tossed 91 intermediate throws and completed 62.6 percent with 11.9 yards per attempt, five touchdowns and two INTs.
Jimmy Garoppolo had a 62.7 percent completion rate on 59 intermediate throws last year. He had 10.5 yards per attempt, seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
Purdy is on track to blow all of those numbers out of the water over the course of his first full season of starts.
At some point perhaps there’s a little bit of regression and his numbers come down a little bit toward a more normal level. There’s already one flaw in his intermediate game in that he’s five-of-nine to the right side and hasn’t attempted an intermediate throw to the right yet this season. That’s something teams may be able to exploit at some point if he doesn’t improve, but through eight regular season games (seven starts) he’s been overall sensational on throws 10-19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
That opens things up in other areas of the field that make life much easier for the 49ers’ passing game, and offers some substantial insight into how Purdy has helped San Francisco average over 30 points per game with him at the helm.
Purdy may have several knocks against him, but there’s no denying he’s setting the bar for elite QB play on intermediate throws.
Stats provided by Pro Football Focus.
