49ers Rams Brock Purdy

49ers QB Brock Purdy Makes NFL History in Second Career Start

If Brock Purdy was ever going to go down in the NFL history books, surely it would’ve been for being the last pick in the 2022 Draft — also known as “Mr. Irrelevant.”

Up until three weeks ago, that was Purdy’s claim to fame — save the Iowa State faithful who watched him in college. An injury to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, however, has opened an opportunity for Purdy.

And he’s running with it.

Making just his second-career start in the “Thursday Night Football” tilt against the Seattle Seahawks, Purdy joined some elite company. Purdy joined the Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers as the only quarterbacks since at least 1950 to have a passer rating of 115+ in each of their first two career starts.

Dealing with an oblique and rib injury, Purdy displayed the moxie of a veteran in the 21-13 victory. He completed 17-of-26 passes for 217 yards with two touchdowns. No play was more important, though, than the one-yard scamper on a pivotal third-and-1 with 2:42 remaining on the 49ers’ final drive of the game.

Purdy’s third-down conversion extended the drive and eventually set up a 55-yard run from Jordan Mason to ice the game. The 49ers clinched the NFC West after winning their seventh consecutive game.

Brock Purdy Continues to Impress 49ers

Following the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan had nothing but praise for Purdy.

“He’s definitely the most poised rookie I’ve ever had. He’s been like that since he’s gotten here,” Shanahan said, via NFL.com. “He was poised all week, even with him being unsure of whether he’d be able to go or not. … And under the circumstances, we didn’t have any other choices, we were going to see how long he could last, and we were ready to go with [backup] Josh [Johnson]. But he just got comfortable, he got better as the game went, and it was pretty unbelievable.”

Purdy’s biggest play of the night came through the air, a 54-yard touchdown pass to tight end George Kittle. The All-Pro said after the game he’s not surprised by the success Purdy is having.

“What Brock has done since he’s come in is he was confident in OTAs … and he diced up the best defense in the NFL, he came in in the preseason games and was threading balls,” Kittle said on the Prime Video postgame show. “He has had confidence since he came into the building, and everyone on this team has sensed that. And he’s just been waiting for an opportunity. …Unfortunately with all the injuries at quarterback he’s finally gotten his opportunity.”