49ers quarterbacks: Steve Young’s Brock Purdy explanation is similar to Tom Brady

Maybe the NFL needs to re-evaluate this?

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  Patrick Holloway
  

• exist September 30, 2023 5:30 am

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young has always been a big fan of Brock Purdy. Young has been full of praise for Purdy over the past few weeks, and even months into the 2022 season; what he does well, what he needs to improve on, and what he will never improve on. For Young, Brock Purdy has “the power of the Force.”

During a recent appearance on KNBR, Young provided more insight into Purdy’s success, but most notably why he’s falling so far in the 2022 NFL Draft. Of course, we’ve had this conversation many times. There’s even a good article in The Athletic about why a specific team passed on Purdy. Steve Young provided more context on why Purdy went down, but what he said mirrored that of another great quarterback who may have been the greatest quarterback of all time. guard. Much of his response is transcribed below:

“They drafted him based on (his) measurable metrics. There’s nothing more frustrating as a player, especially a quarterback, when we talk about strength, we talk about this unknown stuff , this guile, this spatial awareness, the ability to have 21 different people running around in a small space, and the fact that it doesn’t bother you. Eighty thousand people screaming? Doesn’t bother me. Bigger game? Don’t bother me. When the adrenaline rises, most people start sweating and losing themselves. Their minds get smaller and smaller. Some people calm down. As things get crazier, some people’s minds change. got to be broader. What they didn’t know when they drafted him was that he had an indescribable special ability, which he proved in college, but that was at Iowa State, so it was just because he was short. , because he doesn’t have the strongest arm. Because in today’s NFL, that’s the only thing they can measure. It’s hard for them to measure what’s really important. Knowing how to get the ball to the right spot and understanding spatial awareness and all that Stress. Very few people will respond to adrenaline and their bodies will start to calm down. The greatest players in the world have this genetic ability: when things get crazier, their bodies will calm down. This is similar to Most people are the opposite. Most people are miracles.

That’s why most people can’t judge this quality because it’s counterintuitive, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. When they’re screaming for a two-minute workout, their heart rate drops, what’s that?” mean?”

Yes, that’s how they responded. He was a first-round draft pick based on quarterback ability. What he doesn’t have is the strongest arm, the biggest body, speed, all those things that everyone in the world is looking for in a killer. We said it last week: This will be a limitation for Brock. That’s a limitation that won’t change; he won’t grow four inches taller, he won’t get faster, he has plenty of speed, and he won’t throw the ball 80 yards. This won’t happen. What did he tell you? “I’m going to figure it out. I’m going to figure out a way to make up the difference, don’t worry about it. I immediately said, ‘Brother, get on with your bad self,’ because I truly believe that’s true. I believe he’s going to figure it out.” .

So why this lengthy explanation? Because it’s almost the exact same reason that led to Tom Brady going undrafted in the 2000 NFL Draft. Yes, we bring up the Tom Brady comparison again, because everything Young explained reflects what led to another one of the greatest quarterbacks being drafted in the final round. In the short film “The Brady Six,” there’s a scene that details Brady’s comprehensive training and physical evaluation exactly as Young described it. The coaches and analysts in the video (linked above) mention that Brady doesn’t do anything that “wows” you. Instead, everything is measurable, arm strength, size, etc. — as Young outlined for Purdy. Brady himself admitted (in the same clip) that’s not his skill set, but he also said, “Fortunately, that’s not what quarterbacking is for either.”

Brian Baldinger also drew comparisons to Joe Montana. While Brock Purdy is no Joe Montana, and Baldinger is quick to admit that, he points out that Purdy doesn’t panic easily — just like Montana does. Montana is a master of psychology, otherwise how did the name Joe Cool come from? He’s another quarterback who doesn’t let bright lights or crowds get to his head. The best example of this came in Super Bowl XXIII against the Cincinnati Bengals when the 49ers trailed by three points. As everyone fumed, Montana pointed out actor John Candy.

While we may never see Brock Purdy point out Taylor Swift or anything like that, this calmness is definitely what one of the best quarterbacks in history points out, and the addition mentioned above Both quarterbacks also showed that composure. Two are the best at playing this game.

At some point, the evaluation of quarterback prospects may need to change. Not just a fantastic thing, but other psychological assessments to see what’s going on between the quarterback’s ears rather than how many physical samples they have. Maybe we’ll go to VR or something. Until then, quarterbacks like Brady and Purdy will be sidelined, and more quarterbacks may not get a chance because of it. When these rare prospects do get into good shape, you’ll see what happens.

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