Brock Purdy‘s sensational start to his career doubles as a win for the 49ers‘ scouting department. Had the team not used the 2022 draft’s final selection on the Iowa State quarterback, it would have needed to fend off multiple other clubs in the UDFA chase. The Vikings were prepared to make an aggressive pursuit of Purdy in the post-draft signing period, Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com notes. Purdy said he was considering the Vikings, 49ers or Texans if he went undrafted.
Minnesota does not have a Kirk Cousins heir apparent lined up, though it did draft Jaren Hall this year, and has its longtime starter in a contract year. The Vikings also use a somewhat similar scheme compared to the 49ers, with the Sean McVay–Kyle Shanahan offenses derived from the Mike Shanahan–Gary Kubiak system. Purdy landing with Houston probably would not have been optimal, given the state of the organization at that point. Though, the Texans — who used Davis Mills and Kyle Allen as starters last year — would have presented by far the best chance for early playing time. Purdy’s seventh-round 49ers deal runs through 2025.
Here is the latest from the QB scene:
- Kyler Murray is not yet on the Cardinals‘ active roster, being designated for return off the PUP list last week. But the Cardinals took Murray off their injury report Thursday. While that opened the door to a possible Saturday activation for Week 8, the team lists the two-time Pro Bowler as doubtful for the Ravens matchup. Jonathan Gannon has said the Cards have a ramp-up period in mind for Murray, who is 10 1/2 months removed from his ACL tear. Week 9 or Week 10 have surfaced as windows for Murray’s re-emergence. Though Murray must be activated by Nov. 8 in order to play this season, it will be interesting to see if the Cardinals start him immediately once he is activated or extend the final stretch of his recovery via more Joshua Dobbs starts.
- Anthony Richardson is not expected to require a second surgery to repair his AC joint injury. The Colts quarterback underwent surgery this week, and Jim Irsay said no new issues emerged during the procedure. Dr. Neil ElAttrache performed the surgery in Los Angeles, per ESPN.com’s Stephen Holder. No timetable exists for Richardson’s return, per Irsay, but given the October operation, he should be ready for offseason work.
- Aaron Rodgers‘ first Packers season resulted in a 6-10 record, marking a significant step back after Brett Favre guided them to the 2007 NFC championship game. Rodgers finished 11th in QBR in 2008, which preceded an eight-year streak of Packer playoff berths. Through six games, Jordan Love sits 17th in QBR but ranks last among qualified starters in completion percentage (57.5). Green Bay has been outscored 63-6 over its past four first halves. After the Packers saw considerable strides from Love in 2022, leading to the Rodgers divorce, Matt LaFleur indicated (via ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky) the team’s confidence in the fourth-year QB is “not wavering one bit.” Love, who signed a half-measure extension this offseason to take the place of a fifth-year option, will almost definitely have this full season to prove himself. Barring a lackluster second half, should go into the offseason as the Packers’ 2024 starter.
- Ron Rivera was a bit less emphatic when assessing Sam Howell‘s status. The fourth-year Washington HC said (via the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala) he is committed to the 2022 fifth-round pick, but he “can’t predict the future.” Howell has shown flashes; he is also on pace to break the single-season record for sacks taken. David Carr‘s rookie year, with the expansion Texans, currently resides atop that list (76). Howell’s 40 through seven games lead the NFL by 12. Howell sits 25th in QBR. With Rivera’s job far less secure than LaFleur’s, it would not surprise if Jacoby Brissett saw time at some point. Though, the Commanders passed on pursuing upgrades this offseason out of a commitment to Howell, creating the perception of a long leash.
Howell has played better than his stats and the team record indicates. He makes mistakes, as is expected, but he also plays with more poise than would normally be expected from someone with his experience level in the bad situation that he is in. Is he worth developing further? At this point, yes, he has shown enough to say that he could improve with the right coach and a better supporting cast.
Love, on the other hand, is harder to evaluate for the future. He is in a system that tries to protect him by offering a strong running game with multiple backs, but neither that nor the passing offense has worked for Green Bay. The offensive line is being exposed post-Rodgers and the receivers are not experienced or consistent enough to boost Love’s passing options. Love himself is not playing well enough to promote consistency on offense. How much of the Packers’ lackluster effort is Love’s fault? I’d say less than it appears, though he hasn’t been playing well himself.
We should have expected him to not offer much coming in to the year, but Green Bay hasn’t added a reliable star caliber player on offense in the last decade to help shoulder that load. Rodgers was expected to be the engine of the offense for a long time, and Love (or nearly any other QB) was going to struggle in replicating that. Love’s own faults (accuracy, decision making when plays break down, and recognizing defenses presnap) all contribute to that. But I put most of the blame on the front office for believing so confidently that they didn’t need to make any significant additions for…well, a very long time.
There is basically nothing helping Love grow as a QB. Play calling stinks. O-line is woeful. The only RB that can make anything happen isn’t 100%. Receivers are inexperienced, lack anything game-changing (except Watson’s speed, and he’s never healthy), and the TE’s are either not catching on, injured, or just not very good.
That said, Love isn’t helping himself much either. I still don’t think he’s completed a pass downfield where the receiver doesn’t have to make a major adjustment just to reel it in-thus killing any chance of a decent run after catch. The int to seal defeat last week-while I get he was under duress and probably feeling footsteps in his head-shows me how far he is from being a solid qb. That wasn’t Randy Moss down there, and even if it was the ball was underthrown.
But I so enjoy all the 2 yard dump off plays LaFlower seems to be calling. Nothing will help a struggling offense more than repeatedly tossing it to a TE on 3rd and 9 and expecting him to carry 4 defenders for a first down (then chewing his butt when he comes to the sideline).
Maybe try Preston Smith in the slot, and run the jet sweep with him. That’ll jumpstart the offense!
I agree with what you’ve said. It’s pretty obvious that Love studied Rodgers a lot-his throwing motion sometimes is a spitting image (odd phrase, that) of Rodgers’, and his cadence is similar. He’s also mostly calm, even in the face of bad plays by himself or others.
Thing is, he is nowhere close to having the experience to do what Rodgers was responsible for under center for so long. He deserves credit for trying, but as you said, he needs to get the basics down consistently before doing that. Basics would include things like timing, calling protections, recognizing defenses, and knowing when to run. LaFleur was a bit spoiled, I think, in having a quarterback who could switch between called play options, which allowed LaFleur to run a more varied offense. I don’t know how much he scripts, but it probably is better to do more scripting for his young QB than ingame adjustments. Love just isn’t ready to do that.
I say all this to add on to your observations, which again, I agree with. I do wonder why they have not taken advantage of Love’s running ability more as something at all, though, in the face of their other deficiencies. I’m not a huge fan of running the quarterback, especially one who is mature enough to NOT look to run first, but he has that ability and they do need something. The skill position players have been concerning on offense for some time. The Packers have consistently failed, or have not been interested in, improving that. That falls heavily on Gutekunst, and even on the precedent set by Thompson before him. Green Bay’s offense is very young, but they still need playmakers. Absent that, a veteran leader would have helped set the tone after Rodgers’ departure. Right now, there’s not much to rely on. There’s a lot of pieces, but no puzzle.
Agree on Howell. Pulling him in favor of Brissett makes zero sense.
Yeah, murphy, GM and the Headcoach all ran Rodgers out. They should all be fired after the season. How stupid they must be not able to see how incapable Love was when most lay-people could see!
aragon It’s still wild that they used that pick on Love in the first place, instead of a guy who could make an actual impact to help chase a SB in Rodgers final years. It’s like the current GM didn’t realize how insanely lucky they got back then going from Favre to Rodgers, and just expected it to happen again.
Packers FO punted on the end of the Rodgers window when they and the coaching staff will all be long gone by the next time a future HOF QB emerges in GB.
Gute continues to amaze me that he still has a job. All the wasted draft picks on defensive busts. Love looking like one himself.
The biggest mistake was ever making someone so incompetent at their job the packers gm.
Green Bay has been pretty complacent at the GM spot for seemingly the last decade plus. Between Thompson’s refusal to spend and Gutekunst’s stubborn depth picking, the Packers have wasted a lot of opportunities over the years, and they don’t seem to mind.
Congrats SF for seeing the potential in Purdy!
I think it’s much harder for a GM to accept that a mistake was made and the QB they thought would be their future actually has limited potential. Even if Purdy isn’t a long term solution the Niners were right in pulling the plug on Lance. If the Bears were as smart they would already realize that Fields isn’t going to be “the guy”. They’ll probably keep him around for 2 more years of losing like they did with Trubisky before they wake up.
I mostly agree, but I will say that I don’t think that Fields will be starting next year. Eberflus is likely gone (unless Bagent wins a bunch of games, which may save Eberflus but will certainly bench Fields), Poles may or may not be.
The Bears having Carolina’s pick means that winning a game doesn’t hurt their draft as badly as it would otherwise. They may move down a few picks, but they can also start trying to sow the seeds of a good winning culture to build on. If they lose, it’s no biggie, as they can take advantage of those picks. The Panthers trade was great insurance, because of how badly Carolina is playing.