Jerry Rice labels Brock Purdy an 'elite quarterback'

There’s perhaps no more polarizing player in the NFL right now than San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.

Is Purdy a game manager? How big of a role does Purdy play in the 49ers’ success? Is Purdy a product of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s system and the talented skill players around him? All are common questions that come about when discussing Purdy, who’s gone from “Mr. Irrelevant” to Super Bowl starting quarterback in a span of just two seasons.

Though Purdy’s numbers place him among the game’s best, many are hesitant to put his name in the same sentence as Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and others who are among the league’s best signal-callers.

Jerry Rice isn’t one Purdy’s detractors, in fact, he’s one of the few who believes he’s one of the NFL’s best. Speaking with Tom Pelissero of NFL Network at the Reese’s Senior Bowl this week, the three-time Super Bowl champion called Purdy “elite.”

“‘Mr. Irrelevant,’ Brock Purdy, supposed to be that, I guess that game manager, that’s what they keep saying,” Rice said. “I feel like he’s an elite quarterback. I think we have a chance.”

Rice would certainly know what an elite quarterback looks like, as he played with two Pro Football Hall of Famers in Joe Montana and Steve Young. Montana and Young are exactly the names Rice compared Purdy to as he prepares to face the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.

“He makes plays, man, like a Montana, like a Steve Young,” Rice said. “Just a down-to-earth person who wants to win. He’s going to do everything he can to get that victory.”

Brock Purdy preparing for Super Bowl LVIII matchup vs. 49ers

Since Purdy took over as San Francisco’s QB1 midway through the 2022 season, all he’s done is win. The 49ers are 17-4 in the regular season with Purdy under center and 4-1 in the postseason. In his first full season as starter, he threw for 4,280 yards, 31 touchdowns and 11 interceptions on 69.4% passing. He paced the league with a 113.0 passer rating and 72.7 quarterback rating.

Another who isn’t buying the game manager label often associated with Purdy is Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who after reviewing the film, came to the conclusion that the 24-year-old is legit.

“When you dive into it, and you’re watching, it’s not a quarterback who’s managing all those tabs they put on him,” Spagnuolo said this week. “He’s for real. He makes all the throws. He’s really, really smart.”

He added: “This is another quarterback that, when you cover everything back there, he finds a lane in a pass rush lane and can take off. He did it last week. He’s done it in every playoff game. He gets positive yards. That puts a lot of strain on us defensively. Thoroughly, thoroughly, thoroughly impressed with him.”