San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has had a remarkable NFL career since the team took him with the final pick (No. 262 overall) in the 2022 NFL draft.
After starting his time with San Francisco as their third-string quarterback behind Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance, Purdy eventually benefitted from injuries to the other two and took over as the starter late in his rookie season.
Since then, he’s led the team to a 23-13 record, two NFC championship appearances and a Super Bowl appearance while completing 67.5% of his passes for 9,518 yards, 64 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. He’s also added 480 yards and eight more scores with his legs.
His performance over his first three years in the league earned him a massive five-year, $265 million contract this offseason, before he entered the final season of his rookie deal. While San Francisco could’ve franchise-tagged him for 2026, this extension makes both sides happy and sets the team up with a long-term plan.
Now, ESPN’s Chris Broussard is picking the 25-year-old quarterback as a dark-horse candidate for the 2025 NFL MVP Award.
“Brock Purdy. He wants to live up to his money. He’s a good, upstanding guy,” Broussard said on “First Things First” on FOX Sports 1 recently. “I think Purdy, he has the easiest schedule in the league. He has his horses back, like C-Mac (Christian McCaffrey).”
Purdy’s character shouldn’t matter in the MVP discussion, but the easy schedule could help him out.
Despite that, this year will be the biggest test of Purdy’s abilities thus far. He’s entering the season without Deebo Samuel, the team’s top wide receiver over the last few years, after he was traded to the Washington Commanders. He may not have Brandon Aiyuk to start the year due to his recovery from a torn ACL and MCL midway through the 2024 season.
He’ll have to heavily rely on McCaffrey, returning from multiple serious injuries, and tight end George Kittle, who received a four-year, $76.4 million extension of his own this offseason that made him the highest-paid tight end in the league.
If Purdy can thrive in this offense, especially early when Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, Demarcus Robinson and Jacob Cowing could be the top four wide receivers, and bring them back to the postseason, that may be enough to get him in the conversation for the top on-field honor in the sport.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Chris Broussard picks 49ers QB Brock Purdy as Dark Horse MVP candidate