San Francisco 49ers’ Brock Purdy Identifies Area For Improvement In 2023

Brock Purdy was a revelation in his rookie season, but the San Francisco 49ers’ potential starting quarterback has identified a key area where he can improve in 2023.

Purdy enjoyed an incredible start to his career as the last pick in the 2022 draft. Thrust into the starting role under center following injuries to Trey Lance and then Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 13, he won seven straight games as a starter, including San Francisco’s two playoff victories, having also helped the Niners to triumph after Garoppolo went down against the Miami Dolphins.

His season ended in painful fashion with a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) in his elbow in the 49ers’ NFC Championship Game defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles, that injury putting his status as the Week 1 starter into doubt.

If healthy, Purdy would likely be the favorite in a quarterback competition with former third overall pick Lance, having completed 67.1 per cent of his cases in throwing for 13 touchdowns and four interceptions as a rookie.

But that completion percentage is not a completely fair illustration of how accurate Purdy was.

Indeed, according to NextGen Stats, Purdy had an expected completion percentage of 69, meaning he actually underperformed in terms of delivering the ball accurately on throws on which he was expected to connect.

That high expected completion percentage is indicative of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s ability to give his quarterback ‘easy buttons’.

And Purdy understands what he must do if he is to take greater advantage of the lay-ups Shanahan can draw up.

Speaking about where he can improve in year two, Purdy — per NBC Sports Bay Area — told Fox Sports 910: “Starting with the cons [of last season], just footwork.

“Being on time, every concept has its own timing. There were times last year where you could just tell I was still getting used to things, even when I was playing, the time of a slant with Brandon Aiyuk compared to Deebo Samuel, they’re two different types of routes.

“So getting used to that kind of thing, that’s something I have to hammer away at in the offseason.”

Even while displaying less impressive timing and accuracy than he perhaps may have liked, Purdy — per rbsdm.com — was fourth among all quarterbacks with at least 100 plays between Weeks 13 and 18 in Expected Points Added per play. Only Jared Goff, Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes fared better in that regard.

Getting healthy is the primary concern for Purdy but, if he can recover quickly to claim the starting job and make the desired strides with his footwork, then a quarterback who was among the most efficient in the NFL down the stretch last season could become devastatingly effective in his prospective first full campaign as a starter.