When Brock Purdy entered his rookie season, he was not expected to be the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback. He wasn't even expected to be their backup. And he wasn't, at least not at the start of the year. Trey Lance was the first-string guy until he broke his ankle in Week 2, at which point Jimmy Garoppolo took over and Purdy became his backup. When Garoppolo got hurt as well, Purdy took over and kept the job until the NFC title game ... at which point he also got hurt.
Heading into last offseason, Purdy had the inside track to the top job, but it wasn't guaranteed given that he was coming off elbow surgery. Of course, we know what happened next. Purdy ran away with the gig, Lance got traded, and Purdy put together an excellent sophomore season: He completed 69.4% of his passes at an average of a league-best 9.6 yards per attempt, with 31 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He led the NFL in passer rating and QBR, and he finished fourth in MVP voting and sixth in Offensive Player of the Year voting.
Heading into Year 3, there's no question that he will remain the starter. And one of his teammates has noticed the way he now has full command of the San Francisco offense.
"He's taking control of the offense and making it his," Kittle said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. "It's Kyle [Shanahan]'s, and Kyle is calling the plays, but Brock is getting guys to do what he wants them to do, which is really fun to see."
As for what that control looks like and what Purdy "getting guys to do what he wants them to do" means, Kittle elaborated.
"He looks like the guy, which is really nice," Kittle said. "He's in the building every day and is the same guy every single day, consistent. He's incredibly competitive. It's fun seeing him yell at guys when they don't hit their route depth or have the wrong landmark."
Purdy has done nothing but excel since taking over under center in San Francisco. He is surrounded by arguably the best skill-position group in the NFL, with Kittle joined by Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, along with Kyle Juszczyk and rookie Ricky Pearsall. He also has Shanahan at the helm, which is always going to set him up for success. If he grows into the role and improves on the skill set he's already flashed, that could take the Niners offense to another level.
