Former NFL Offensive Coordinator Evaluates 49ers QB Brock Purdy

"He has certain tools and attributes that are very good."
Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

Brock Purdy is one of the most successful young quarterbacks in NFL history, but he wouldn't fit every offensive system. Some coaches would appreciate him more than others.

I recently interviewed former Raiders offensive coordinator Tom Walsh, who won two Super Bowls, to find out what he appreciates about Purdy. Here's what he said. Also check out what Walsh said about the time the 49ers tried to trade Joe Montana to the Raiders but the Raiders turned them down.

ME: How do you assess Brock Purdy? What does he do well?

WALSH: "He has certain tools and attributes that are very good. He displays remarkable poise. You like a quarterback who has that even keel, not emotional, no highs and no lows. Jim Plunkett had that. Those guys are able to handle adversity and maintain the calm in the huddle. Purdy exhibits that. I like his improvisational skills. He may not be the fastest of all the quarterbacks, but he has a sense of when to move, when to slide up in the pocket, when to whip out the back door, and that is a gift. His memory is good. His instincts are good. He doesn't have the greatest arm, but he doesn't need the greatest arm. Timing is what you need. Joe Montana couldn't throw the deep ball."

ME: Would Al Davis have wanted Brock Purdy?

WALSH: "You can design an offense around what Brock can do, but if you have an owner who already has a philosophy of what he wants to be -- the vertical strike -- Brock would not have made our draft board. I'll be honest."

ME: Well he almost didn't make the 49ers' draft board, either. Would Al have wanted Montana?

WALSH: "The 49ers actually came to us about Joe. We watched tape about Joe. And as successful as he was -- he had some of the best footwork I've ever seen -- but he didn't have the length in his arm to be able to get the ball down the field to satisfy Al."

ME: "So when Al called Bill Walsh back, did he say, "Look, no thanks on Joe, but what about Steve Young? Is he available?"

WALSH: "No, Steve was untouchable."

ME: Would Bill Walsh have wanted Brock Purdy?

WALSH: "Oh yeah. He'd be right up Bill's alley. And Bill would have worked more on Purdy's footwork. Bill was a footwork guy."


Published |Modified
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.