When it comes to quarterback rankings, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy hasn’t always gotten the respect he deserves.
Entering the fifth year of his NFL career, Purdy remains a fringe top-10 quarterback who has continued to elevate his game with his athleticism and propensity for extending plays. He remains a high-quality anticipator, his efficiency metrics in Kyle Shanahan’s system continue to stand out, and his sack avoidance has become even better.
Now, there are obviously still some
flaws in his game, namely his propensity for turnover-worthy plays (41 turnovers in 49 career games), but Purdy has shown he can elevate the 49ers offense, even when the supporting cast isn’t as strong (see: 2025 season).
Still, in controversial NFL analyst Steven Ruiz’s rankings, Purdy was labeled as a “supporting-cast dependent” quarterback in a tier that includes eight other quarterbacks.
Ruiz had three quarterbacks in his “elite” tier: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson. Another five made his “franchise carriers” tier: Matthew Stafford, Joe Burrow, Drake Maye, Dak Prescott, and Justin Herbert.
The following tier, “on the doorstep”, consisted of four more quarterbacks: Caleb Williams, Trevor Lawrence, C.J. Stroud, and Jordan Love. Purdy fell into the tier after that, which also included Sam Darnold, Jared Goff, Kyler Murray, Jayden Daniels, Jalen Hurts, Baker Mayfield, Bo Nix, and Daniel Jones.
What’s the definition of being in this tier?
“This group can produce like top-10 quarterbacks provided the conditions around them are just right,” Ruiz wrote. “Some in this group require pristine pass protection. Others need an innovative play-caller or a stacked receiving corps. But when those needs aren’t met, they play more like bottom-10 quarterbacks. This is the middle class of NFL passers.
“The fanbases for these quarterbacks are all thinking the same thing: Why is my guy lumped in with these scrubs?”
For Goff, he mentioned the inability to handle pressure. For Murray and Daniels, it’s health-related. Then, there are the three quarterbacks who have made a Super Bowl: Darnold, Hurts, and Purdy.
“This tier also includes three quarterbacks who have played in a Super Bowl, and two of them have won it,” Ruiz said. “Sam Darnold is the defending Super Bowl champ, and he’s coming off a clean postseason run, but he also led the NFL in turnovers last season. Jalen Hurts has led mediocre passing games in three consecutive seasons despite a wealth of surrounding talent. And Brock Purdy has battled injuries and inconsistency since breaking out in 2022 with a superstar supporting cast and Kyle Shanahan calling the plays.”
Now, detractors of Purdy can point to his injury history. He has dealt with a UCL tear, a shoulder/oblique injury (that didn’t cost him any games), and turf toe throughout his NFL career. But last season was truly the first year where he missed substantial time, as Purdy played in 16 and 15 games in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Purdy’s interception rate is the main detractor in his game, as he had four multi-interception games last season, while throwing one in eight of his 11 games played. But he proved last year that he could produce even without a strong supporting cast. Due to injuries, Purdy was throwing to a receiving core that included Demarcus Robinson and Kendrick Bourne as starters for parts of the year.
At the moment, it feels like Purdy is just outside or right near the Top 10 conversation, but he has continued to level up his game while still having some of those head-scratching moments.
