Getty Image / Michael Owens
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is one of the most divisive players in the NFL on NFL twitter. Some think he’s really good, while others think he is a product of a great system surrounded by an unreal supporting cast. But, of all the takes, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio had the absolute worst take of anyone on Brock Purdy.
Florio has been known for some zany football opinions in the past. This one truly may take the cake.
Take a look.
Newest reason Brock Purdy can't be seen as a franchise QB?
He has a "weird name" that's too close to "Turdy" pic.twitter.com/o2wbvaAPVv
— 49ersSpin (@49ersSpin) September 22, 2023
Wait, so he’s arguing that since his name, Purdy, rhymes with Turdy, that people don’t want him to be good? That seems like an incredibly foolish thing to say for a respected NFL writer who normally takes himself pretty seriously.
As for Brock Purdy, the 49ers have yet to lose a game that he started and finished, dating back to last year. That’s a perfect 12-0 start in those games.
The stats are reasonably impressive, too. Including the postseason, he has an impressive 20:4 touchdown to interception ratio while completing over 66% of his passes.
But, there are some caveats to that. First off, head coach Kyle Shanahan is a quarterback whisperer. He has turned mediocre quarterbacks into pretty good players his whole career, and he turned an above-average quarterback in Matt Ryan into an NFL MVP back in 2016. You know a Shanahan team is always going to be able to use that zone blocking scheme to run the ball effectively, and that makes it much easier on a quarterback.
And, the talent surrounding Brock Purdy is downright incredible. The midseason trade for Christian McCaffrey last year has rejuvenated the running back into arguably the league’s best weapon once again. Couple in Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle as all elite pass-catching weapons that excel at picking up yards after the catch, and you’ve got a great situation.
It’s hard to say if Purdy is actually good or is just in the right system. But, no matter what your opinion of him is, it can’t be worse than Mike Florio’s.