As they prepare for Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, it’s clear Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers won the lottery when taking a chance on Brock Purdy with the No. 262 and final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.
However, the potential benefits of taking the Iowa State product reportedly weren’t unanimously recognized nor accepted in San Francisco’s war room during the draft process, causing a divide between Shanahan and other 49ers coaches.
NBC Sports' Peter Kings shared the sentiment among 49ers evaluators leading up to the pick on an appearance with 95.7 The Game's "Willard & Dibs" on Thursday.
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“Kyle Shanahan, in that 20, 25, 30 minutes -- when they were trying to decide what they were going to do -- he said, in that room, ‘I love this quarterback, this is the guy I want to take,’ King said. “And so all of a sudden, a chorus of coaches come up and say, ‘Oh, man. We need this linebacker, we need this receiver, this guy is going to help us. We got two quarterbacks already. [Shanahan] just traded three [first-round draft picks in 2021] to pick Trey Lance. Who cares about a quarterback and if we lose him?’
“But Kyle Shanahan and the management of this team made a decision [that] ticked off some people in [the 49ers’ war room] when they took Brock Purdy because who [had] any idea about a quarterback from Iowa State?”
In defense of the unnamed San Francisco staffers, arguably no one could’ve predicted Purdy’s impact less than two complete years into his 49ers career.
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But Shanahan knew he had to have Purdy, believing it was draft-pick-or-bust if the 49ers were to land him.
“Kyle Shanahan knew one thing, and it was the most important thing and why he ended up taking Brock Purdy with the 262nd and final pick of the [2022 NFL Draft]. He knew that Brock Purdy was not going to sign with the 49ers in free agency. He knew it. So he said, ‘If we want this guy, if I love him so much, we got to pick him.’ So, they picked him.
“Obviously, they lost out on a couple of guys who might’ve made their team because every year there’s one or two or three guys who is an undrafted rookie who comes in…But I think, probably, the [49ers] coaches who were arguing against [Purdy’s selection] are pretty happy that Kyle Shanahan got his backup [quarterback] and said, ‘Hey, we’re taking Brock Purdy.’”
The 49ers appeared to be set at quarterback before the 2022 NFL Draft, but Shanahan found the 49ers a diamond in the rough.
After being handed the reigns toward the end of the 2022 NFL season, Purdy has completed 68.7 percent of pass attempts for 5,654 yards and 44 touchdowns in 25 regular-season games for San Francisco.
And in less than two weeks, the 24-year-old signal-caller will have the opportunity to bring the 49ers their sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy home to the Bay.
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