The Chicago Bears have the first pick in the upcoming National Football League draft after compiling the worst record in the league. It is almost tough to remember that they opened their win starved season with a victory over … wait for it, the San Francisco 49ers.
We are a long way from the 49ers losing to the Bears on opening day, the Denver Broncos two weeks later and to the Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs on successive weeks in October. San Francisco is also a long way from that pedestrian start to their 2022 season … they haven’t lost since that midseason setback to the Chiefs at Levi’s Stadium.
The 49ers are also on their third quarterback, a guy selected with the last pick in the 2022 draft, or as it is known around the league, Mr. Irrelevant. That quarterback choice is a long way from irrelevant now, as he is playing so well the team does not seem to embrace the need of rushing one-time starter Jimmy Garoppolo back into action now that he has recovered from an ankle injury that opened the door for the 49ers surprise phenom.
Who is this young quarterback that has not lost a game as the 49ers starter? Brock Purdy. His stock as a potential draft pick went down because he chose to play all four of his college years at Iowa State before entering the NFL draft. That’s right, we have reached a point where NFL personnel departments view a quarterback that played four years at the collegiate level as inferior to a kid that declares for the draft early.
Nuts, but I will tell you I actually overheard an NFL executive say before last year’s draft, “A quarterback that stays in college for his entire career is probably not a real blue chip candidate. Those guys are coming out after two years, maybe three at the most.”
And for this year’s award for dumbest comment of the year we acknowledge … no, I’m not going to do it, name the lamebrain because he is not alone in that thinking.
On the other hand, I have an entirely different scale in determining what is paramount to having a young man transition from a college quarterback to become a star in the NFL. Before I drafted a QB I would want to meet his parents. It has been my observation for more than 50 years in and around the NFL, that the men that succeed at running a franchise from the quarterback position consistently come from a strong family background.
Hereditary factors can certainly lend to their physical prowess, but if you see the kind of family life Peyton and Eli benefitted from in the Manning family, or the strength Tom Brady gained from his strong family upbringing and the list goes on. If you have an athlete playing quarterback in college that is not sure who his father is, their development in being the team focal point is a lot more dicey.
I don’t care if my linebackers are raised by wolves, but I want my quarterback to come from a solid family unit. That is one of the benefits enjoyed by Purdy, and it translates to him not only performing on the field but conducting himself with teammates and the media with a poise that exemplifies what really is required to be a successful team leader.
Does that mean Purdy could lead the 49ers to their first Super Bowl win since the 1994 season?
Well, we have an historical example of a young quarterback that guided his team without losing a regular season game after he was forced to become the starter due to an injury to the team’s first stringer. That was in 2004, when Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was forced into action when Steelers starter Tommy Maddox went down with a season ending injury during the second week of the regular season. Roethlisberger won all 13 of his regular season starts and led the Steelers into the AFC Championship Game, where he met his Waterloo against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
So, to expect Purdy to take the 49ers all the way is without precedent, and a quarterback winning it all after opening the season third on a teams depth chart has never happened.
But, before dismissing his chances, I ask you this, have you met Purdy’s parents?
Or, as Larry David might say, “Pretty, pretty, good.”