When low-rated quarterbacks succeed in offenses designed to maximize their efficiency and explosiveness, we generally tag them with the pejorative “system quarterback” label, and we move on. What we tend to ignore in that decision is that every quarterback is a system quarterback. It is the rare quarterback who can consistently succeed despite a system that is not attuned to success in the passing game. We can always find contrary examples — think of Aaron Rodgers playing hero-ball because he had to in Mike McCarthy’s reductive playbooks for years — but passing games that work, work because there is an ideal marriage of quarterback and scheme.
This discussion has been surrounding San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy since Purdy became the team’s starter in Week 13 of the 2022 season. The then-rookie, famously the final player selected in the draft that year, has blossomed into the perfect distiller of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense, especially in recent weeks.
The Purdy debate seems to have two sides, with no middle — either he’s a widget of a system quarterback who is entirely fungible and replaceable, or he’s the next Joe Montana.
As is generally the case in these matters, the truth is far more nuanced.
The statistics are certainly impressive — as we head into Week 6, Purdy leads the league in passer rating (123.1). Passing DVOA (63.1%), Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt (9.79), Passing EPA (51.96), Positive Play Rate (61.1%), Boom% (percentage of pass attempts that resulted in an EPA of at least 1; 30.6%) and his off-target throw rate of 11.0% is the NFL’s lowest.
As far as Purdy taking advantage of nothing but open windows, well…
How QBs have produced vs perfectly covered plays (x-axis), and non-perfectly covered plays (y-axis). Brock Purdy is the only QB with a positive EPA when every coverage player has done their job. Herbert has been the best QB at taking advantage of busted coverages this year pic.twitter.com/qXqkSiDV4y
— Arjun Menon (@arjunmenon100) October 11, 2023
And as the tape shows, there’s more to Purdy’s current success than just distributing the ball to wide-open guys in a near-perfect passing game. Yes, that’s part of it, but that’s the point guard part. That Purdy has also become a shooter, in basketball parlance, makes him one of the most interesting players at his position in the NFL.
In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys went long on the Brock Purdy discussion, with the mind to separate perception from reality.
You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” video right here:
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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…
…and Apple Podcasts.
Now, let’s reveal the truth of Brock Purdy, NFL shooting guard.