Add The California Post on Google The Dolphins are in town, and the 49ers Faithful should greet them with a round of applause. Maybe a standing ovation. Shake the hand of any fan you see in Aqua-and-Orange.
Any way to express gratitude for the small part they played in changing the franchise’s trajectory.
If it wasn’t for Jaelan Phillips’ violent sack of one 49ers quarterback on their last visit, who knows how long it would have taken to figure out they had their next one waiting in the wings?
With 9:30 left in the first quarter on Dec. 7, 2022, an unknown seventh-round pick — literally “Mr. Irrelevant” — named Brock Purdy entered the game for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo.
“It was just one game, but it was an extremely special game,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said this week. “It was foreshadowing how the following three years would go.”
In five years at the helm, Shanahan had devised one of the NFL’s most sophisticated offensive schemes, filled it with superstar skill position players and taken them to a Super Bowl. But he had yet to find the quarterback who could take them to the next level.
Almost four years since Purdy’s stunning debut, he hasn’t led the Niners to the promised land — not yet. But he has proven to give them the best chance of any quarterback Shanahan has had.
It wasn’t until Shanahan went home and reflected on the game later that night that he realized what he had on his hands. The guy they took with the last pick of the draft was a legit NFL QB.
“We had such a good team that year, and it’s such mixed feelings when you lose your starter [Trey Lance] and your backup [Garoppolo] within a month of each other,” he said. “Then you’re down to the third-string quarterback the whole game.
“So, it was a little sombering after the game and stuff, but I remember … when I got home that night and actually sitting and thinking about the game and really setting in how well Brock played. Just going against that defense he did under duress with all the blitzes, how he hung in there, took hits, how he didn’t get many reps at all the whole year and how he knew exactly where to go with the ball.”
The 49ers’ offense was (and is) predicated on getting the ball to its playmakers, so they had no choice but to play through Purdy’s hands, and he showed some flashes of the qualities that would make him almost as important to the offense as Christian McCaffrey or George Kittle.
Miami blitzed Purdy on a dozen of his dropbacks and pressured him nine times, but he stayed calm and got the ball out in a hurry to the right target, completing 25 of 37 passes. He used his legs to extend plays and weaseled around the pile to pick up a first down on a sneak play.
Purdy led the Niners down the field for a touchdown on his first drive and pretty much never relinquished the job again. He signed a five-year, $265 million extension before last season.
It was a throw on their next scoring drive that really cemented that Purdy could sling it. Miami brought the house and Purdy was hit as he threw but still hit Kittle in the chest over the middle for a 19-yard gain.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, all right, I can play with this. This is awesome.’ He hit me in the chest, right where you want it,” Kittle recalled this week. “Then I saw the replay, and I was like, ‘Holy s–t, good job, Brock.’
“You just need a couple plays like that and [not only] his confidence skyrockets but everyone around him skyrockets as well.”
When he was drafted, Purdy could have just as easily been mistaken for a car salesman, with his modest 6-foot-1 frame, everyman physique and dad-chique dress style.
Just 12 weeks into his rookie season, after beginning the year as the third-string quarterback with no expectation of ever seeing live action, Purdy was thrown into the fire.
He didn’t melt; he turned out to be the fuel that helped keep it burning.
Shanahan has since said he had a fourth-round grade on Purdy in the draft. And Jed York has recalled Shanahan telling him in training camp that Purdy was better than Lance or Garoppolo and would be the starting quarterback one day.
It’s almost easy to forget how shocking it was at the time, even for those on the sidelines.
Defensive assistant Johnny Holland was laughing and smiling while looking over his tablet on the bench when Purdy’s name was announced over the loudspeakers. He looked up with a straight face and microphones captured his reaction: “Oh, Brock’s at quarterback?”
“I think that was everybody’s reaction,” Kittle said, widening his eyes and shaking his head. “Just like, ‘Whoa.’”
That included 49ers legendary radio voice Greg Papa, who couldn’t help but appreciate the symbolism.
“Mr. Irrelevant to many, he becomes extremely relevant now,” he crackled as Purdy entered the game. When Purdy found fullback Kyle Juszczyk in the flat for his touchdown to complete his first drive less than five minutes later, his voice reached a fever pitch: “Mr. Relevant!”
Purdy has gone on to throw 86 more touchdowns in the regular season, plus another eight in the playoffs. With their Week 1 win over the Rams, the 49ers improved to 36-18 in games started by the former 262nd overall pick — 37-18, when he’s in within the first two series.
He became Mr. Relevant four years ago against the Dolphins and has only grown into the title since.
