Brock Purdy’s start has been impossible to ignore, and Dan Orlovsky didn’t try to soften it.
The former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst said this week that Purdy is operating at a level no other quarterback in the league can match right now. After two games, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback has completed 80.8 percent of his passes, thrown for 492 yards, five touchdowns and one interception, and averaged 8.8 yards per attempt.
Orlovsky called Purdy “the ideal guy” for Kyle Shanahan’s offense and said, “There’s no quarterback in the NFL playing football the way that Brock Purdy is right now. As fast as you can be up top and as calm and almost as slow as you can be neck down.”
He spent much of his breakdown focusing on Purdy’s processing, anticipation and ability to throw into space before defenders can recover. On one play, Orlovsky pointed to Purdy working from under center, taking a 7-step drop and dealing with a free runner while still finding George Kittle after a dropped coverage.
“Look at his feet, slow to fast to slow. He sees somehow as he gets backside to really the number 4 that the dropped coverage releases George Kittle.
There it is, beautiful. Underneath the center, drop back once again.
Look at this, because no one’s accounting for that linebacker, here comes another free runner. Offensive line has got their 5.
Quarterback has to beat it from underneath the center. This is not normal.
There’s the soft spot in the defense, a little bit of congestion in the middle of the field between Evans and Juszczyk. Ball still comes out.
He doesn’t see those guys. He just sees space.
This is the fullback.”
Orlovsky also highlighted another snap that, in his view, showed how Purdy is throwing with timing and confidence before the picture fully opens.
“Okay, this play is absolutely nuts,” Orlovsky continued. “Short motion, the halfback out there. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 [step drop].
As he does that, the halfback pulls the underneath coverage. The receiver lifts the deep coverage.
He’s throwing this ball to a fullback that is only about 6 feet. He doesn’t see Juszczyk.
He just sees the vacated space right there in between those defenders. Josh Allen’s playing remarkable football, and there’s a lot of quarterbacks playing a high level.
Nobody is playing the way that Brock Purdy is.”
The numbers back up the praise. Purdy leads the NFL in QBR and completion rate, and he has not been sacked despite being pressured 15 times.
His completion percentage would be even higher if not for four drops. He has completed at least 80 percent of his passes whether he has been blitzed or not, and he’s giving the 49ers offense the kind of early-season spark that has turned heads across the league.
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