49ers news: Brock Purdy listed as No. 16 QB in NFL in latest rankings

When it comes to quarterback rankings, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is always a topic of controversy, as many have differing opinions of the 2022 seventh-round draft pick.

Purdy had his breakout season in 2023 after an impressive rookie campaign that saw him win the first seven games of his career. Last season, he tossed for 4,280 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, placing him in MVP discussions.

Now, heading into the 2024 season, where should Purdy be ranked as a quarterback?

The Ringer’s Steven Ruiz released the first edition of his weekly quarterback rankings for the upcoming year, and Purdy cracked the list at No. 16.

In the rankings, Ruiz highlighted Purdy’s accuracy, timing, decision-making, and creativity as his top skills.

“For the same reason that evaluating a quarterback who’s stuck in a terrible offense can be difficult, properly judging Brock Purdy’s performance in San Francisco’s dream offense feels like an impossible task,” Ruiz wrote. “He’s essentially the NFL’s ultimate Rorschach test. Because my brain is wired to prefer bigger quarterbacks with stronger arms, I look at Purdy and see a passer with average accuracy, average decision-making skills, and above–average playmaking ability. I do not, however, see a “game manager.”

For the same reason that evaluating a quarterback who’s stuck in a terrible offense can be difficult, properly judging Brock Purdy’s performance in San Francisco’s dream offense feels like an impossible task. He’s essentially the NFL’s ultimate Rorschach test. Because my brain is wired to prefer bigger quarterbacks with stronger arms, I look at Purdy and see a passer with average accuracy, average decision-making skills, and above–average playmaking ability. I do not, however, see a “game manager.”

Instead of labeling him as a game manager, Ruiz sees Purdy as a more aggressive quarterback whose arm talent and sneaky athleticism leads him to positive results.

“Purdy isn’t afraid to make mistakes. He’s not checkdown pilled like the quarterbacks who deserve the game manager tag. Like some of the top quarterbacks, Purdy has enough arm talent to layer passes over linebackers and into the hands of his receivers. But he does run into trouble when he has to make those throws with pass rushers in his lap—sometimes sailing those passes into dangerous areas. He is capable of making wow throws, but not without tossing in a few questionable passes, too. While Purdy isn’t an elite athlete, he’s not a bad athlete, either. He accelerates and changes direction in tight spaces, which allows him to escape the pocket and find room to run or throw. But, again, there are trade-offs. If you filter out designed rollouts, out-of-pocket plays were the one statistical split that Purdy performed poorly in during his breakout 2023 season. So those scrambles and throws don’t always yield positive results.”

Ruiz does knock on Purdy’s processing skills, instead attributing that more to the system, which is why he’s ranked as a middle-of-the-pack quarterback heading into 2024.

“Evaluating Purdy’s physical abilities isn’t the tricky part, though. It’s judging his decision-making in an offense that provides whoever is leading it a uniquely wide margin for error. Purdy isn’t the processing genius some of his fans make him out to be, but he’s also not a mistake-prone quarterback who just throws games away. He’s somewhere in between. Figuring out exactly where may require seeing him work with a higher degree of difficulty.”

How can Purdy improve on his ranking?

“If Purdy isn’t willing to sacrifice his playmaking for more sound decision-making, then better pocket presence would help him avoid the situations where he is most mistake prone: trying to make a play after running himself into pressure. Purdy is comfortable making quick decisions from the pocket, but it doesn’t take much pressure from the defense to throw him into survival mode,” says Ruiz.

Listed ahead of Purdy are Atlanta’s Kirk Cousins, Detroit’s Jared Goff, Arizona’s Kyler Murray, Green Bay’s Jordan Love, Houston’s C.J. Stroud, and Seattle’s Geno Smith.

Should Purdy be ranked higher on the list to begin the season? Or is Ruiz’s ranking of 16th a fair assessment of his play thus far?