Brock Purdy named the 49ers’ ‘player to root for’ by NFL.com

Former New England Patriots safety Jason McCourty is now an analyst for NFL dot com. He went through each team and gave a “player to root for.”

The 49ers have a roster full of success stories. Trent Williams is one of the most talented football players in the league and is still dominating at age 34 despite being diagnosed with a skin cancer called dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP).

Dre Greenlaw and Talanoa Hufanga lead the way defensively. Both players were former fifth-round picks and have hit the ground running early in their career. But in a league where the quarterback is impossible to ignore, McCourty’s answer was obvious:

Who didn’t love watching Mr. Irrelevant help take the 49ers deep in the playoffs? From the family moments to defeating the G.O.A.T. in Santa Clara to winning a pair of playoff games, it was quite a story. But the ill-fated struggle through a crippling elbow injury in the NFC title game loss was such a letdown for him, the team and the 49ers Faithful. GM John Lynch said Purdy ”has earned the right” to head into camp as QB1; I’m hoping he’ll pick up right where he left off and help San Francisco win a lot more games in 2023.

From the front office to his teammates, the support for Purdy has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s unfair to say Purdy’s reception has been over the top when you factor in how different the offense looked under him. Everything was easier, and the 49ers were rarely in competitive games.

Purdy’s draft status is a big reason why he’s easy to root for. Now, everyone is looking for “the next Purdy.” Whenever a quarterback was drafted in the later rounds this past year, Brock’s name was attached to them.