Brock Purdy's rapid rise from Mr. Irrelevant to the 49ers' starting quarterback was one of the most incredible stories in recent NFL history. But five games into the 2023 NFL season, the 23-year-old has taken it to another level.
Purdy officially is a leading candidate to win NFL MVP.
NBC Sports' Peter King currently considers Purdy the front-runner to take home the award in February. He filed five reasons why that's the case in his weekly Football Morning In America column.
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-- Purdy plays quarterback for a winning team. "For the last 10 years, and 15 of the last 16 years, a quarterback’s won it. And for the last 10 years, a quarterback from one of the top two seeds in a conference has won it."
-- The stats. Among the current pair of top-two seeds in each conference -- San Francisco and Philadelphia in the NFC and Kansas City and Miami in the AFC -- Purdy leads the other three quarterbacks in accuracy (72.1 percent), passer rating (123.1), TD-to-interception ratio (plus-9) and team margin of victory (19.8 points per game).
-- Undefeated record. In the 13 games Purdy has played at least three quarters under center, the 49ers are 13-0.
-- The 49ers are the NFL's most dominant team. Purdy is leading them under center to an average of 33.4 points per game, second only to the Dolphins, who scored 70 points in one week.
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-- Setting his dynamic teammates up for success. Purdy isn't known for his arm strength, but he's letting the 49ers' offensive weapons shine. “Part of a high yards-per-attempt, yes, is having great receivers who run after the catch," one former NFL quarterback told King. "It’s also putting receivers in position to run after the catch by putting the ball exactly where the guy can catch it in stride and run after the catch."
So, there you have it. It's not just the fairytale script or the 49ers' second-to-none offensive system.
One game at a time, Purdy is proving he's more than a system quarterback. When it's all said and done, he could be crowned as the league's most valuable player after being passed over 261 times in the 2022 NFL Draft.