DISCLAIMER: This column is not meant to suggest Brock Purdy will be the greatest quarterback in the history of the 49ers or win four Super Bowls. It makes comparisons with the most popular player in franchise history only in terms of playing style and the early portion of their careers.
Brock Purdy is not Joe Montana.
Since that’s clear, the process of viewing the play of No. 13 through the prism of No. 16 can take place without fear of readers recoiling at the thought of a Purdy hype machine spun out of control.
Rest assured, however, the late Bill Walsh would have loved Purdy for his poise, accuracy and ability to move the chains with a steady series of mostly short and occasionally intermediate passes.
Montana as a rookie in 1979 wasn’t blessed with the kind of supporting cast Purdy has, nor was he deemed ready to play. Walsh stuck with journeyman Steve DeBerg the first year other than a late-season loss Montana couldn’t finish as the 49ers went 2-14. He finally made the switch to Montana after five games in Year 2.
The legend of Joe didn’t begin until his third season, when the 49ers went 13-3, won the Super Bowl in Pontiac, Mich., against the Bengals, and the rest is history for a Hall of Fame player and franchise icon.
Purdy, who began as a third-stringer and the final quarterback taken in the draft, has been dealt a winning hand but there were no assurances he would know how to play it once the cards were on the table.
With the certainty of hindsight, 49ers players are telling us this is no surprise based on Purdy’s minimal play in training camp, the preseason and his presence on the scout team.
That seems unlikely, given what Purdy has accomplished in three games:
— He emerged from the bench after Jimmy Garoppolo broke his foot to lead the 49ers to a 33-17 win over a potential playoff team in Miami with almost no practice time.
— Responded to the pressure of his first NFL start against Tom Brady nonetheless with an almost perfect half of football in a 35-7 win over Tampa Bay, another team with playoff aspirations.
— With a strained oblique and a rib injury, led the 49ers to the NFC West title in Thursday night’s 21-13 win over Seattle in one of the NFL’s toughest road venues.
— Completed 66.7% of his passes (62 for 93) for 678 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions (including a mop-up appearance against Kansas City) and been called by coach Kyle Shanahan “the most poised rookie” he’s ever had.
That’s a hell of a start.
Even with the injury, Purdy was at his mobile best against Seattle, and that’s where he most resembles Montana. Coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense looks like a Walsh offense more than it ever has because Garoppolo can’t move like Purdy and the change to Trey Lance meant a more option-based attack.
Purdy plays with a fluidity that allows Shanahan to call the bootlegs and rollouts Montana ran so well and were a staple of Walsh’s system. One of his best plays Thursday night wasn’t a pass, but a run.
With the 49ers needing a first down after Seattle had made it a one-score game, Purdy scrambled to his right on third-and-1 with 2:42 to play for a first down that helped put the game on ice. He measured it off perfectly, his impromptu judgment impeccable, extending the ball just beyond the marker with his left hand.
Oh, and Purdy also has some unexplainable magic about him when it comes to good fortune. He had one bad interception called back against Tampa Bay, and another dropped by Quandre Diggs Thursday night in Seattle.
Montana, you’ll recall, threw a late pass in Super Bowl XXIII directly into the hands of Lewis Billups that could have lost the game. Billups dropped it, and Montana eventually won the game on a pass to John Taylor.
At 22, Purdy is not only at the controls of the 49ers down the stretch, but he’s been so good the franchise will have some big decisions to make in the future based on his promise.
Suddenly it’s not so important to consider bringing Garoppolo back for another season or Brady as a free agent at a huge salary, not when Purdy is on the books for an $889,253 cap number that represents 0.4% of the projected 2023 salary cap.
Shanahan has discovered he can call a game without fear of exposing his rookie quarterback because Purdy doesn’t conduct himself like a rookie. It’s doubtful that it ever got that far with Lance as a second-year player.
“My confidence in Brock allows me to call what I think is right,” Shanahan said. “You trust him to make the right play and so you can just call things that you think are right at the time.”
Purdy presents a legitimate challenge to Lance for the starting job next season, particularly with any sort of postseason run that mirrors what he has done so far.
Making it even better is Purdy is not only doing the right things, but saying them. He deflected praise Thursday night in favor of talking up Lance and Garoppolo. He’s coming out of his shell a little as well, joking during an on-field Amazon Prime studio session that tight end George Kittle “doesn’t shut up.”
Purdy will never be another Joe Montana, although it’s safe to say Montana didn’t have a start like this either.
We have no idea what happens if Purdy falls behind by two scores or should the 49ers’ defense suddenly falter. Or if he can strike deep with authority well enough to keep teams honest after being scouted more extensively. Or how he and the 49ers will react if Purdy simply has a bad game.
Nothing left to do but enjoy the ride.
