It’s clear Brock Purdy has elevated the 49ers’ passing offense since taking over as San Francisco’s starting quarterback, but how is that quantified by those who took the field with him during his meteoric rise?
Former 49ers defensive tackle Arik Armstead echoed valuable insight into the matter from San Francisco’s wide receivers who caught passes from both Purdy and his predecessors during an appearance on “First Things First.”
“I’ll tell you this. I talked to a lot of the receivers at the time, [Brandon] Aiyuk, Deebo [Samuel], like, ‘What’s the difference?’ Because I felt like in 2023 that was the best offense we’ve had in my entire tenure of that time,” Armstead told hosts Kevin Wildes, Nick Wright and Chris Broussard. “When I talked to the receivers, the major difference on how Brock changed our team, was the receivers felt like they could get the ball on any play.
“It switched out from, ‘OK, I’m out of the progression, I’m just doing a run off route’ to ‘I better run my best route regardless of the play because Purdy may just throw it to me and I feel like I’m better than the [defensive back] covering me and he gives me the opportunity” and the receivers love that and you can see how our offense took off that year.”
The 49ers’ passing game soared to new heights in Purdy’s first full campaign as the starting quarterback during the 2023 NFL season, with San Francisco finishing top-5 in both passing yards (4th) and touchdowns (2nd) for the first time since 2001.
Purdy finished fourth in NFL MVP voting that season after throwing for 4,280 yards and 31 touchdowns while leading the league in passer rating (113.0), yards per attempt (9.6) and QBR (72.8).
Aiyuk had a career year in 2023, earning Second-Team All-Pro honors after logging 1,342 receiving yards on 75 receptions at an impressive clip of 17.9 yards per catch.
The receivers aren’t the only players who’ve seen a boost in statistics with Purdy under center, as All-Pro tight end George Kittle has become a mainstay in the end zone since late in the 2022 season.
Kittle has caught 20 touchdown passes from Purdy in 34 regular-season games, while catching 25 total in the other 79 career NFL games he has played with other quarterbacks under center.
Purdy’s exceptional play was rewarded with a lucrative $265 million contract extension this offseason, paving the way for the young quarterback to remain a fixture in San Francisco’s plans for years to come.
Which is good news not only for those catching passes from him, but also for the Faithful watching on as the 49ers pursue the ever-elusive sixth Vince Lombardi trophy that the franchise narrowly has missed on multiple times in recent years.
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