PFF: Brock Purdy is NFL's 4th Best QB When He has 2.5 Seconds to Throw

He's much more like Steve Young than Drew Brees.

Grant Cohn | Jun 30, 2024

Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill runs after 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy in the first quarter of the NFC championship game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Brock Purdy is a bit of a conundrum.

He's extremely smart, he reads defenses quickly and accurately and he's decisive, so you'd think he'd thrive when he gets the ball out of his hands quickly. But that's not when he's at his best according to Pro Football Focus.

Purdy surprisingly was not one of the top 10 highest-graded quarterbacks in the NFL last season when he threw the ball in fewer than 2.5 seconds. Tua Tagovaioloa was the top-graded quarterback in this metric, which speaks to his quick release and accuracy from the pocket. Jared Goff, Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love and Jalen Hurts also ranked in the top 10.

When quarterbacks held the ball for more than 2.5 seconds, Purdy was the fourth-highest-graded quarterback after Lamar Jackson, Kirk Cousins and Matthew Stafford. Obviously, Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the world no matter how long he holds the ball, but he didn't make Pro Football Focus' top 10 somehow last season. They should really look into that.

Purdy's ability to make plays is extremely underrated. The longer he holds the ball, the better off the 49ers offense is because he's extremely creative and poised. Which makes you think the 49ers would actually want to invest in pass protection. If Purdy gets better the longer he holds the ball, give him more time to hold the ball. Asking him to be Drew Brees and release the ball as quickly as possible isn't playing to Purdy's strengths. He's much more like Steve Young than Drew Brees.

Published Jun 21, 2024|Modified Jun 30, 2024

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.