Niners Nation
We are living in a quarterback league. Well, unless you’re the Seattle Seahawks and can provide the type of infrastructure for a season around your quarterback, where he doesn’t have nearly as much on his plate as the rest of the league.
But for everybody else, if you don’t have a playmaker under center, good luck keeping pace.
Brock Purdy has helped propel the San Francisco 49ers into one of the top teams in the NFL. When he took over as the starter in 2022 and remained the starter through the 2023 season, no team was as dominant and overwhelming as the Niners.
We’ve seen injuries and some forced decisions among Purdy’s top complaints from his critics. There’s enough evidence that Purdy belongs in the conversation with the best of the best, but his best play has happened when he’s been playing on a loaded roster.
We’ll go through an exercise today pitting Purdy against every other quarterback on the 49ers schedule to see how many games the Niners have the advantage in. There will be some disagreements. That’s fine. That’s what makes these types of discussions fun. It’s all subjective. So, without further ado, let’s get into it.
Stafford is coming off a season where he threw 12 more touchdowns than the next quarterback. He was incredible. He threw two fewer interceptions than Purdy despite throwing 313 more passes. Stafford is in complete control and is the epitome of elevating the players around you. He was the MVP for a reason.
Winner: Stafford
Willis may end up being higher in the quarterback rankings by the time the season ends than others. He was surprisingly good last season in limited action, and always seemed to provide stable quarterback play for Green Bay. But now he has to do it as a full-time starter when teams have tape and can game-plan for him if Willis ends up in the top 15-ish quarterbacks; good for him.
But it’ll take more than a flash-in-the-pan season to top Purdy. The 49ers will have a big QB edge for their home opener.
Winner: Purdy
It’s 2026, and Arizona is still trotting out Brissett. While it’s obvious the Cardinals are tanking for one of the top quarterbacks in next year’s draft, you almost feel bad for Brissett. He’s going to take a ton of hits this season. Arizona’s supporting cast isn’t awful, but Brissett and Purdy are on opposite ends of the playmaker category. One hunts big plays, while the other is comfortable checking it down—some would say he prefers it.
Winner: Purdy
I wonder how Broncos fans would feel about this. To me, it’s not close. Super senior Bo Nix has been the same quarterback since his days at Auburn. Sean Payton can attempt to dress up his quarterback all he wants, but...
