Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan landed sixth in CBS Sports’ ranking of the NFL’s top head coach-quarterback duos heading into the 2026 season, and that placement says as much about Purdy’s durability questions as it does about the 49ers’ overall standing.
Garrett Podell’s list put the 49ers pair behind the Los Angeles Rams’ Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford, who checked in at No. 1, and the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid at No. 2.
It also had San Francisco trailing another NFC West combination, with the Seattle Seahawks’ Sam Darnold and Mike MacDonald coming in at No. 3.
Podell’s case for Purdy and Shanahan leaned heavily on how San Francisco kept rolling despite a battered roster. He noted that the 49ers’ top-six highest-paid players missed a league-leading 64 games, including the postseason, yet the team still made the playoffs and won a road playoff game at the Philadelphia Eagles.
That, Podell wrote, is an impressive showing for Purdy and Shanahan. He pointed to Purdy’s work in Shanahan’s offense in 2025, when he completed 58.3% of his third- and fourth-down pass attempts, which CBS Sports Research said was the highest rate by any quarterback in the last 35 seasons.
Podell also emphasized the same concern that keeps following Purdy around: availability. Purdy missed a combined 11 games across the last three seasons, including eight in 2025 because of a turf toe injury.
Shanahan, Podell argued, knows how to get the most out of whoever is on the field, but the ideal version of this partnership would involve a healthier roster and, for once, a full deck. Podell also noted that may be difficult given that much of San Francisco’s core is on the wrong side of 30.
The durability issue has followed Purdy from the start. After his elbow injury in his rookie season, he was immediately labeled by some as fragile.
The next year he took his share of hits and played through concussions and other bumps, starting every game except the last one, which he missed because the 49ers had already locked up the No. 1 seed. Even then, he was often getting checked by the training staff during games.
There were more stretches without him in 2024, and the turf toe injury in 2025 left him ineffective in some games and out entirely in others. A limited Purdy is not ideal, and the source text makes the point bluntly by saying the Jacksonville Jaguars can tell you that.
At the same time, the argument for Purdy is that when he is healthy and operating in Shanahan’s system, he looks like a top-10 quarterback. The real issue is simple: he has to stay on the field.
Even with that in mind, sixth felt a little rich to the source’s author, who questioned whether Purdy was carrying Shanahan or Shanahan was carrying Purdy. The same reaction carried over to the MacDonald-Darnold pairing at No. 3, which the source described as one that seemed to feature MacDonald doing most of the heavy lifting with the defense and run game.
One last detail from the ranking: Sam Darnold has a Super Bowl ring, while Brock Purdy does not. Take that for what it’s worth.
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