Young reveals key trait Purdy must focus on in his QB development

Steve Young was a dual-threat quarterback before it was a thing.

His legs were always a weapon. He developed into a high-level passer and a first-ballot inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Now, Young would like to see 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy take the opposite approach to advance his game and remain one step ahead of defenses.

Purdy has already shown the ability to execute a high-level, sophisticated passing attack.

What’s the next step?

“He’s going to have to have his nifty feet help him out a little bit,” Young said of Purdy on 49ers Talk recently at the American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Young rushed for a career-high 537 yards in his first season as San Francisco's full-time starting quarterback. He finished his career with 4,239 yards and 43 touchdowns on the ground.

He believes Purdy can utilize his athleticism to expand his game. Purdy showed a glimpse of that part of his game in the second half of the NFC Championship game against the Detroit Lions, scrambling four times for 49 yards.

“There are free yards in today’s wide-open game,” Young said. “It’s a different game than 20 years ago. And guys can go get them (yards) with his legs in key moments. He needs to think about spitting out 50, 60 yards a game with his legs.”

Young referenced the game-changing abilities of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson to convert on third downs on scrambles. He believes Purdy can find some success in that area, too.

“Look, Brock knows he’s not that guy,” Young said. “But he can be a threat. And I think that threat needs to come out more this year.”

Young said after the 49ers’ come-from-behind NFC divisional round victory over the Green Bay Packers, he had a conversation as he was leaving Levi’s Stadium in which he learned of the Packers’ plan in defending Purdy.

Because Purdy does not have the strongest arm, the Packers knew that Purdy had to process quickly and get rid of the ball. Young was told the Green Bay defense were coached to run to where Purdy was looking because they knew he was not going to remain in the pocket for slow-developing routes.

“He has to process even faster and the ball has to come out even sooner because the longer the play goes, the further people get away, essentially,” Young said.

On a rainy night in which both quarterbacks had their difficulties, Purdy completed 23 of 39 pass attempts for 252 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Packers quarterback Jordan Love threw for 194 yards with two critical fourth-quarter interceptions.

“The interesting thing, as Brock matures, his game is going to have to mature as people study him,” Young said.

“It’s going to be a graduation that we all go through.”

Purdy has worked this offseason at improving his arm strength and accuracy while also training to become more of a threat with his elusiveness in the pocket and scrambling.

Young said he believes most of what separates quarterbacks in the NFL has less to do with physical attributes than the mental side of the game.

And in those areas, Young has observed Purdy is as good as it gets.

“He does an amazing job of locking it down emotionally and mentally with his faith and really doesn’t let anything go outside of it,” Young said. “So there’s a purity and a peace of how he has dealt with the complexity. And I admire it. I think it’s a heck of a thing.”

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