Pro Football Focus put Brock Purdy in a spot that should feel pretty good to the 49ers quarterback: No. 10 in its annual ranking of all 32 starters heading into the 2026 season.
That placement comes with a big asterisk in the background. Purdy played only nine games last season for San Francisco after missing eight with a turf toe injury, yet PFF still slotted him inside the top 10. Their reasoning leaned heavily on how efficient he was when he actually took the field.
“Purdy missed eight games with a turf toe injury but was highly effective when he was on the field. His 85.4 PFF grade ranked sixth among NFL quarterbacks, while his 65.8 passing grade under pressure ranked third. He has now ranked among the NFL's 10 highest-graded quarterbacks in each of the past three seasons.
"Purdy's 9.0% pressure-to-sack rate was the best in the league in 2025, reflecting an ability to process and release the ball before the pocket fully collapses, and his accuracy percentage of 78.7% was among the highest marks among qualifiers."
For a quarterback who logged just nine appearances, landing in the top 10 is notable, especially with two of those outings described as disasters. Even so, Purdy was solid or better in seven games and, at times, looked like the version of himself from 2023, when he emerged as an MVP candidate.
The names directly behind him also make the ranking easier to accept. Purdy was placed ahead of Trevor Lawrence, Jalen Hurts, Sam Darnold, and Caleb Williams, and the source material argues none of them should be above him.
That’s why the ranking lands as fair and respectable. It’s not an outrageous leap, and it’s not a slight either. The comparison to his No. 85 spot on the NFL top 100 list fits the same theme: take the respect, because it could have been worse.
Purdy now gets a fresh chance to move up in 2026, and the first step is obvious - stay healthy. If he had reached at least 14 games last season, he likely would have climbed a place or two, though that would have been tough with Dak Prescott at No. 8 and Drake Maye at No. 9 ahead of him.
The bigger picture is simple enough. PFF’s top 10 looks right, even if a few spots could be shuffled around. And now Purdy has to back up the ranking with production.
He’ll have one major help this season: a true No. 1 receiver again. It’s the first time he’s had one since Brandon Aiyuk in early 2024.
So the runway is there. The excuses aren’t.
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