How the 49ers' Brock Purdy has leveled up ahead of a Super Bowl rematch with the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes

Here's one stat that should catch your eye as the 49ers get set to host the Chiefs in a Super Bowl rematch on Sunday. Brock Purdy has the lowest percentage of yards after catch (33%) in the NFL this season. Patrick Mahomes has the highest (65%) this year. And it's actually the highest by any quarterback on record. So nobody relies less on YAC than Purdy. And nobody relies on it more than Mahomes. Do I have your attention?

It's a staggering statement, one not meant to discredit Mahomes, who has always relied on YAC with a great degree of success. Rather, it's intended to illustrate how much Purdy's game has changed as the 49ers have navigated an up-and-down start without Christian McCaffrey.

Purdy has relied on his legs and downfield passing much more this year in a way that should silence the dwindling crowd of Purdy haters. I'm sure there's a few left. It's also helped the 49ers stay afloat early in the year. Without his play, they would be far worse than 3-3.

Purdy ranks top three in the NFL in yards per attempt (8.8), yards per completion (13.5), completion percentage over expectation (+5.2%) and explosive pass rate (third). He's also top 10 in EPA per play (0.15) and pass success rate (50%). That's nothing new compared with last year. What you'll notice in this bird's eye view of his performance in the last two years is how much more he's relying on his own playmaking ability and elevating those around him rather than being elevated by the best supporting cast in football. 

There's a lot of numbers, so I bolded the big changes. 

Brock Purdy last two seasons (with NFL ranks)

He's certainly evolved without last year's NFL Offensive Player of the Year in McCaffrey. He's literally taking matters into his own hands by scrambling more without CMC available to move the chains. Purdy ranks third in scrambles for first downs (11) this year behind rookies Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix. If you go back a little further, he's tied with Mahomes for tops in that category since the beginning of last postseason (14 each). 

Last week, ESPN's Dan Orlvosky lauded Purdy's play so far, highlighting those backbreaking runs. 

Purdy's always had underrated athleticism. His 10-yard split in the 40-yard dash is among the better rates at quarterback and actually just beneath teammates Deebo Samuel and McCaffrey. He is really putting the burst to use this year, like on this third-down scramble vs. the Rams.

And of course, Purdy has made big adjustments in the passing game without McCaffrey. The most common stat used to discredit him last year was how much he relied on yards after the catch. Not anymore. As I mentioned, 33% of his yards come after the catch this year, the lowest by any quarterback since Jameis Winston in 2018. That figure was 47% last year, middle of the pack in the league. He's averaging 4.4 yards after catch per completion, 28th in the league after it was first (6.6) last year. 

Purdy is now holding onto the ball longer and driving it downfield more often. He has the longest average throw distance in the NFL this year (9.8), a tick up from last season. He has the most completions thrown 15-plus yards downfield this year (27). His average throw is almost a full yard past the first-down markers on average, the longest in the league. That came in handy on this dime to George Kittle last week.

The biggest change is he's also averaging the longest time before passing (3.39 seconds) after ranking 21st last year (2.75 seconds). So, he's taking 0.64 seconds longer to throw this season on average, the largest year-over-year change by any quarterback in eight seasons of tracking by PFF.

He's living and dying by his ability to extend plays. He's averaging the second-most yards per attempt (11.9) with at least three seconds to throw this season. He ranks 25th in under three seconds to pass (5.9). That's the largest gap (6.0) by any quarterback in eight seasons of tracking. This play was negated by a penalty, but underscores his playmaking ability.

The one downside is Purdy can occasionally get happy feet and bail out of the pocket rather than checking down or climbing the pocket and finding the open man. His average time to pressure is the fifth-latest in the league (2.63 seconds) in 2024, compared with the fifth-earliest last year (2.36). So far it hasn't burned him much, as he's still third in EPA per play when the first pressure comes at least 2.75 seconds after the snap. 

But like any quarterback, he's had some bad days. San Francisco has blown two double-digit fourth-quarter leads this year, the same number as the rest of the NFL combined. In the 49ers' latest backbreaking loss vs. the Cardinals the game ended on Purdy's interception after he held onto the ball too long. At his size, performance against pressure is occasionally a concern. 

His response to that tough loss was impressive, though. He balled out against the Seahawks last week to avoid dropping to 2-4. Not bad in a tough environment, on a short week, versus a playoff contender, coming off a loss. He also threw for 292 yards, three touchdowns and no picks in a game against the Rams without McCaffrey, Samuel and Kittle.

No doubt Purdy has leveled up his game and playmaking ability without the full arsenal around him, and he will have a chance to turn more heads in a Super Bowl rematch on Sunday.