- Programming note: The American Century Championship will air Friday, July 11, from 1-3 p.m. PT on Peacock, and again from 5-7 p.m. PT on GOLF Channel. Saturday, July 12 and Sunday, July 13, the tournament will air locally on NBC Bay Area (KNTV) from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. PT.
Matt Ryan is low-key — but he definitely is a Brock Purdy guy.
In an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco at the American Century Championship in South Lake Tahoe, the retired 15-year NFL veteran quarterback shared respect for Purdy, highlighting the 25-year-old signal-caller’s dynamic fit within San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan’s offensive scheme.
“I think his ability to throw the football over the middle of the field, that’s huge for them and fits within the scheme and what they do,” Ryan told Maiocco. “He’s a really good athlete; I think underrated, in terms of mobility, but also accuracy on the run. The ability to be accurate in the intermediate passing game, moving around — that fits with how Kyle wants to run the football.
“So, I think he can identify that pretty quickly. I think the unknown with Brock early on was, ‘Is he going to be able to make good decisions? Is he going to be poised in two-minute situations and critical third downs?’ And he’s shown to be that, in a short career.”
Ryan admires how Purdy has done an excellent job of doing what is asked of him, surrounding the intermediate passing game that the 49ers have made their trademark in recent campaigns. The retiree also values Purdy’s ability to be a threat with his legs.
The stats don’t lie. Purdy has generated 9,518 passing yards and 64 touchdown passes over the first 40 regular-season games of his young NFL career.
“It’s nice to have a big arm — no question about it. … But those [big] plays rarely come up,” Ryan explained to Maiocco. “They might be two, three, four times a game. Your bread is buttered, particularly in [San Francisco’s] system, in the intermediate passing game, and getting the ball out of your hand quickly and having trust in guys to be where they’re supposed to be.
“And I think [Purdy’s] vision, anticipation and accuracy fits really well with that.”
Nowadays, questions about Purdy aren’t as much about how talented he is, but rather about the worthiness of his $265 million contract extension and if he is the guy to lead San Francisco to a Super Bowl victory.
Ryan, however, believes that Purdy’s contract isn’t as daunting as the NFL world might see it to be, nor is he concerned about the 49ers quarterback taking any steps back. Ryan only sees growth in Purdy’s future.
“Listen, I always thought, when you sign big extensions and go onto the next, obviously there’s expectation and weight there,” Ryan prefaced to Maiocco. “But you’ve got to be yourself, right? They made a commitment to who you are. And certainly, there’s potential to grow. But [don’t] try to do too much — that’s where guys can fall into a trap.
“For me, it’s really about playing within the scheme and reading plays out one play at a time and just making good decisions over and over. And I think that’s what he’s going to do. I’ve always felt that with quarterback contracts, too, they’re player-friendly on the front end and team-friendly on the back end.”
Purdy has shown everything thus far to convince Ryan that the future is bright in the Bay. From the 49ers’ signal-caller’s skillset to personality and overall fit under Shanahan, Ryan can’t imagine a universe in which San Francisco ends up regretting Purdy’s contract.
“They’re in this little period right now where, yeah, it’s a big number,” Ryan told Maiocco. “But you look four or five years down the road with the way contracts have changed and continue to go up, he’s going to be a team-friendly guy in a couple of years.”
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