Brock Purdy continues to light up the NFL.
The San Francisco 49ers quarterback improved to 10-0 as a regular season starter on Sunday Night Football in Week 5, throwing four touchdowns in a blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys.
Purdy, 23, is on a meteoric rise after being selected with the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. Could he already be the most successful seventh-round quarterback in NFL history? It might sound crazy after just 10 starts, but he's quickly racking up historic numbers.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Here are the five best quarterbacks ever selected in the seventh round, plus a bonus name (listed by draft year):
Pat Haden, 1975
Career regular season stats: 55 starts (35-19-1), 9,296 passing yards, 52 passing TDs, 60 interceptions, 609 rushing yards, 6 rushing TDs, 1977 Pro Bowler
In six seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, Haden had mixed success. The 176th overall pick out of USC led the Rams to three postseason appearances (1976-78), losing in the NFC Championship Game twice. He finished second in Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1976 but was ultimately limited due to his size (5-foot-10) and injuries, which led him to retire from football at just 29 years old in 1982.
NFL
Gus Frerotte, 1994
Career regular season stats: 93 starts (45-47-1), 21,291 passing yards, 114 passing TDs, 106 interceptions, 315 rushing yards, 6 rushing TDs, 1996 Pro Bowler
After getting a chance to start for parts of his first four seasons in Washington, Frerotte became a capable backup for multiple teams. He played 15 NFL seasons for seven different clubs, going 0-2 in his postseason career (1999 with the Detroit Lions, 2000 with the Denver Broncos). Frerotte played until he was 37 years old in 2008, when he went 8-3 as a starter for the Minnesota Vikings before getting hurt.
Matt Cassel, 2005
Career regular season stats: 81 starts (36-45), 17,508 passing yards, 104 passing TDs, 82 interceptions, 1,025 rushing yards, 5 rushing TDs, 2010 Pro Bowler
Cassel learned a thing or two as Tom Brady's backup, and he showed it in 2008 when the GOAT was hurt in Week 1. In his fourth season, Cassel led the New England Patriots to a 10-6 record with 21 touchdowns and 3,693 passing yards. He was then traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he made the Pro Bowl in 2010 with a career-high 27 touchdowns and made his only postseason start. Cassel bounced around the league as a respected backup until 2018.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, 2005
Career regular season stats: 147 starts (59-87-1), 34,990 passing yards, 223 passing TDs, 169 interceptions, 2,625 rushing yards, 21 rushing TDs
No other seventh-round quarterback can statistically stack up to Fitzpatrick. He played 17 seasons for nine teams, starting games everywhere he went. Dubbed "Fitzmagic," the Harvard alum had productive seasons as a full-time starter for the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and Miami Dolphins, among others. Though he never made the playoffs, Fitzpatrick was the ideal backup quarterback to have throughout the 2010s -- something that few expected when he was selected 250th overall in 2005.
Brock Purdy, 2022
Career regular season stats (through Week 5 in 2023): 10 starts (10-0), 2,625 passing yards, 22 passing TDs, 4 interceptions, 37 rushing yards, 3 rushing TDs
That brings us to Purdy, who remains perfect in every NFL game that he has started and finished thus far. His only loss came in the 2022 NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles, when he was injured in the opening quarter. Purdy has a long way to go, but he's set up to succeed for years to come. The 49ers are among the league's most talented teams and head coach Kyle Shanahan gets the most out of every quarterback he has.
Bonus: Julian Edelman, 2009
Career regular season stats: 100% completion percentage (6 for 6), 128 passing yards, 1 passing TD, perfect 158.3 passer rating
OK, this is kind of cheating. But Edelman was a quarterback at Kent State before transitioning to wide receiver with the Patriots. He was the 232nd overall pick in 2009 and developed into a trusted target for Brady during the second half of New England's dynasty. And Edelman threw a few passes on trick plays throughout his career -- including a game-changing 51-yard touchdown strike in the 2014 divisional round against the Baltimore Ravens.