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Has 49ers QB Brock Purdy Established Himself as Elite?

Just last week, Purdy led the 49ers offense to a mere 16 points against the Arizona Cardinals who had given up 42 points to the Commanders the week before.

Grant Cohn

Oct 10, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass against the Seattle Seahawks during the third quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
Oct 10, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass against the Seattle Seahawks during the third quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
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Brock Purdy is a great story, but is he really a great quarterback?

He was great on Thursday night during the 49ers' 36-24 win over the Seahawks. But the Seahawks defense isn't good. Plus it was missing three starters -- Riq Woolen, Byron Murphy and Uchenna Nwosu. Plus it was torn to shreds recently by Jared Goff and Daniel Jones. So we should have expected Purdy to play well in Seattle. He never has lost to that team.

But does beating the Seahawks mean that Purdy is elite?

Just last week, Purdy led the 49ers offense to a mere 16 points against the Arizona Cardinals who had given up 42 points to the Commanders the week before. The Cardinals defense is awful, and yet it intercepted Purdy twice and beat him.

I think it's still too early to call Purdy an elite quarterback. We haven't seen him play enough football yet. There are still too many things about him that need answers.

For example, check out these stats. In three seasons, Purdy is 17-4 against NFC teams with a quarterback rating of 121.2. And he's 21-5 if you include the playoffs. That's incredible.

But against the AFC, Purdy is 6-4 with a quarterback rating of 86.3. And he's 6-5 if you include the Super Bowl. That's troubling.

It seems like certain teams have Purdy's number and very few of them play in the NFC. Minnesota might be the only one.

It's admirable what Purdy has done without Christian McCaffrey on the field this season. But I want to see him beat a team that's better than the Seahawks before I call him elite.

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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.

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