The national narrative surrounding second-year quarterback Brock Purdy has done a complete 180 after the 49ers lost their second straight game on Monday night.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who once believed in the young quarterback, has seen enough to lose all faith in the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
“I lost faith in him because I believed in him,” Smith said on “First Take” Tuesday morning. “Twenty touchdowns, just two interceptions in his first ten regular season starts. We looked at this with Brock Purdy. Yes, look at the system.” [49ers coach] Kyle Shanahan put himself in position, but at the end you looked at Brock Purdy and compared him to the other quarterbacks that were there and compared to what they were doing and you said, “That’s the guy, that.” is the guy and that’s the future.’
“I’m not saying that’s still not the case, but I look at the speed of some of his throws, his arm strength, etc. and I say he doesn’t have the strongest arm in the world,” obviously timing plays a role Role. You see the chemistry he had with Deebo Samuel and [Brandon] Aiyuk and of course Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle. But with Deebo Samuel being out and not having that reliable component to throw the ball to, that seems to have affected him so much.”
Purdy had the first two-interception game of his career in San Francisco’s 22-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at US Bank Stadium.
The 23-year-old signal-caller became the 49ers’ starter in 2022 after season-ending injuries to former San Francisco quarterbacks Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.
Until San Francisco’s loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 6, Purdy had yet to lose a game he started and finished. But San Francisco’s dominant 5-0 start to the season received a harsh reality check in Cleveland and then a second straight humiliation in Minneapolis.
The good news for 49ers fans is that Purdy was never the type to go too high or too low. Even though he experienced nothing but success in the NFL, he never excelled too much.
But now he and the rest of the team will look forward and try to get back in the win column when the 49ers return home to host Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. And maybe, just maybe, the doubters will become believers again.
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