Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud wanted to set the record straight about how good Brock Purdy is with the San Francisco 49ers.
Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud is a fan of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.
In a recent interview with “The Pivot Podcast,” Stroud said he didn’t like how people discredited Purdy and that he’s “a hell of a player.”
“I don’t like how people do Purdy. I think Purdy’s a good player, I think Purdy’s a hell of a player,” Stroud said. “I was watching a video today on the bus back from practice and it was like all of his touchdown throws, and it was like great throw, basic throw, and like all wide receivers. Most of them were great throws.”
The public discourse over whether or not Purdy is a good quarterback reached its apex when he helped lead the 49ers to Super Bowl LVIII. Purdy didn’t put up gaudy numbers, but he remained an MVP candidate on the best team in the NFC and won consecutive playoff games in the fourth quarter to push San Francisco to Vegas an a matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Stroud would know good quarterback play, too, after his Offensive Rookie of the Year season. Purdy finished with better numbers than Stroud did – 172 more passing yards, eight more passing touchdowns, a higher yards per completion rate with a 69.4% completion rate.
Now, a lot of the issues with Purdy are the offense he plays in. He gets to throw passes to running back Christian McCaffrey, who just won NFL Offensive Player of the Year, as well as wideouts Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk and tight end George Kittle. Purdy also runs Kyle Shanahan’s quarterback-friendly scheme. But he executes it to perfection, and it’s why he was able to lead San Francisco to Las Vegas this year.
Stroud noted that regardless of how he plays or who he plays with, Purdy’s performances are noteworthy because of how difficult the position is.
“There’s nothing basic about being an NFL quarterback, nothing,” Stroud added. “Let’s get one thing clear: there’s nothing easy. I don’t care if somebody seems wide open. There’s a lot of operation, a lot of things that have to go great to get that person wide open, and you have almost everything to do with that.”
Purdy gets a duel with Patrick Mahomes up next and will face arguably his toughest defensive matchup since the 49ers played the Baltimore Ravens during the regular season. Purdy actually got benched during that game after he threw four interceptions.
This is a legacy-defining game for the young quarterback, but he has Stroud in his corner.
