- - Brock Purdy is an anomaly in a largely homogenous playoff QB pool

Jori EpsteinDecember 31, 2025 at 4:10 AM

0

When Caleb Williams shared the sentiments last week, he seemed to believe them.

The Chicago Bears were fresh off winning an overtime thriller against the Green Bay Packers. A prime-time matchup with another NFC playoff team, the San Francisco 49ers, loomed.

Williams was asked whether he derived any “individual joy” from leading a team to the playoffs. So he explained.

“I wasn’t the biggest, I wasn’t the strongest, I wasn’t the tallest, fastest, whatever the case may be,” Williams said. “I get drafted here, told that I’m not a special player. I’m told that I’m not a good fit here. I’m told that Coach and I won’t work. I’m told I can’t win here.

“I know that’s going to keep going on. But I do take a little satisfaction and things like that, being able to help this team … get to the playoffs.”

The perspective was striking.

Williams was the first overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft by a Bears team confident enough in their selection to essentially begin collaborating with their quarterback before getting on the clock.

Williams was long the favorite to be the first overall pick of the draft when he turned pro, the question more of when the 2022 Heisman Trophy would choose to take his first overall crown than if.

Niners QB Brock Purdy and Bears QB Caleb Williams represent the ends of the NFL Draft spectrum. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) (Thearon W. Henderson via Getty Images)

And yet: Whether because he was determined to put a chip on his shoulder or because he is still processing the instability of his rookie year (hello, two head coaches and three offensive coordinators), Williams framed his role in the Bears’ first playoff berth in five years as a feat of overcoming odds.

“My goal isn’t just to get to the playoffs,” Williams said. “My goal is to win and win big.”

Sunday’s 42-38 Niners win need not tamper expectations for Williams, who accounted for 348 offensive yards and two scores. But the quarterback matchup of the first overall pick in one draft and the last overall pick in another did highlight again how remarkable Brock Purdy’s journey is.

Because if Williams truly was told he wasn’t the biggest, strongest, tallest or fastest — well, plenty of NFL talent evaluators didn’t spend time telling Purdy he was or wasn’t anything at all.

Now, he’s red-hot after back-to-back five-touchdown performances, he’s ready to once again be an outlier in a largely homogenous playoff field of quarterbacks.

“Brock’s been playing his ass off,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said Sunday night. “Made some huge plays in this game, kept some drives alive with his legs, made some off-schedule plays and was an assassin out there throughout the whole day.”

Purdy’s draft status, injury history suggest he should not be performing as he currently is

Entering the final week of the NFL regular season, 12 teams have clinched a playoff spot. Four more are alive and contending for the final two spots.

Their quarterback profiles are primarily cut from the same cloth.

Fourteen of the 16 teams who could compete in the playoffs are starting quarterbacks drafted in the first round. Five of those quarterbacks weren’t just selected in the first round but also were selected as the first overall of their class.

Reigning Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts is an outlier to leave the board in the second round: The Philadelphia Eagles selected him 53rd overall in 2020.

[Get more 49ers news: San Francisco team feed]

Purdy is the only playoff-eligible starting quarterback who was selected later than the second round, the 49ers famously selecting him with the last overall pick and crowning him 2022’s Mr. Irrelevant.

Purdy’s draft slot is not a new playoffs storyline. He has played six game postseason games for the 49ers across the 2022 and 2023 NFL seasons, including a Super Bowl.

And yet, on Sunday night against the Bears, he seemed to unlock another gear. It wasn’t just that Purdy completed 24 of 33 passes for 303 yards and three passing touchdowns after throwing a pick 6 on the first snap of the game (a decision that Shanahan said was the correct process even if it prompted an unhelpful result). Or that Purdy rushed for another two touchdowns, en route to the 4-point victory in a wildly entertaining shootout.

Bears entered this week with league-best +21 turnover differential is thanks in large part to their league-best 31 takeaways & league-best 21 interceptions.Add another to the count. Pick 6 on Brock Purdy's first throw.pic.twitter.com/YAiFkoQKEK

— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) December 29, 2025

It was how Purdy played against an admittedly shaky Bears defense that wowed.

The last overall pick facing the first overall pick didn’t look like his draft status nor did he look like a quarterback who had missed eight games this season due to a right big toe injury.

He threw darts in the air and escaped defenders with his feet.

With 5:01 to play in the third quarter, the game tied at 28, Purdy faked a handoff to running back Brian Robinson Jr. then rolled out to his left. He pumped toward the end zone but didn’t release without a clear target. Then, Bears defensive linemen Austin Booker and Andrew Billings began to close in. Purdy pulled back and then swooped in between the two linemen, baiting Bears defenders toward him and away from fullback Kyle Juszczyk. With Juszczyk now open, Purdy hit his target.

Touchdown, 49ers. Purdy queued up his “Dougie” dance for not the first time that night.

“Having quarterbacks who could do some things off-schedule is a huge part of our success,” Shanahan said. “He made me extremely nervous and then he made me extremely happy, which happens sometimes.”

Brock Purdy was drafted last pick overall… missed eight games this season with a toe injury…and now is doing this against a playoff team 👇🏽🔥pic.twitter.com/2uUTI1c8sQ

— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) December 29, 2025

And while the feisty Bears would tie and then pass the 49ers in the fourth quarter with 10 unanswered points, Purdy had one more trick up his sleeve.

Facing second-and-10 from the 38 with 2:23 to go, Purdy stayed calm in the pocket and threw a 21 air-yards dart upfield to none other than Jauan Jennings, the receiver he’d targeted on his opening pick 6. Jennings weaved the remaining 17 yards to the end zone for what would be the game-winning score.

And the 49ers, despite the absence of several key players, kept their No. 1 seed hopes alive.

“It's huge,” Shanahan said. “I’ve been so proud of the guys throughout the whole year, proud of them today. It's a hell of a deal to have the opportunity to play for the one seed. And these guys have earned it.”

With No. 1 seed on line, can Purdy’s streak continue vs. stingy Seahawks defense?

To clinch the No. 1 seed, and the first-round NFC bye, the 49ers must beat the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night.

The two teams squared off in Week 1 of the season, the 49ers outlasting the Seahawks in Seattle, 17-13. Purdy threw for 294 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. San Francisco’s roster was at fuller strength then.

Sure, an offensive core was down receiver Brandon Aiyuk amid contract and rehab disagreements as well as receiver Deebo Samuel, after they’d traded him in the offseason to the Washington Commanders. But this contest was before Purdy missed eight games with a variant of turf toe and before tight end George Kittle missed six games between hamstring and ankle injuries.

Star linebacker Fred Warner had not yet fractured and dislocated his ankle, nor had defensive ends Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams yet tore their ACLs.

The cast of characters hosting the Seahawks in this finale has shifted since their last meeting. But the 49ers believe they’re battle-tested. Facing a Seattle defense ranked second in scoring and sixth in yards allowed, Purdy and Co. will face a steeper challenge.

Then again, to quote the Bears’ Williams, isn’t all of this an uphill battle against the odds?

The unlikelihood of Purdy initially earning the 49ers starting job from a room that included third overall pick Trey Lance is evidenced in how top-heavy this year’s playoff-bound quarterbacks are.

And now, in the eight games he’s been available for this year, Purdy has posted numbers akin to those highly drafted quarterbacks. His 104.2 passer ratings ranks fourth behind Drake Maye, Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff — who were drafted third, first and first overall, respectively. Purdy’s 2.5 passing touchdowns per game rank behind only Stafford, his 7.1 EPA/game second to Maye, per Next Gen Stats.

If all of these numbers belonged to Williams in Chicago, they would be — contrary to the quarterback’s lens — statistically more likely.

For Purdy, they should not cease to impress. Teaming up with one of the league’s best play callers in Shanahan and one of the league’s best weapons in Christian McCaffrey helps. But Purdy is not just operating among them. He is elevating them.

Shanahan declined to confirm whether Purdy’s playing at the peak of his four NFL years thus far. But he didn’t deny the possibility.

“I don't know, I'm not the best historian,” Shanahan said. “I feel like he's had some good stretches. I mean, especially going back to ’23 and ’22.

“But I mean, he's playing as good as it gets right now.”

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”