Brock Purdy

LeSean McCoy boldly claims 49ers' Purdy is second-best NFC QB

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Brock Purdy has made a name for himself in the NFL and continues to turn heads in his second season.

After his meteoric rise from Mr. Irrelevant to 49ers starting quarterback, Purdy's storybook 2022 season came to an end in heartbreaking fashion after he suffered a torn UCL in San Francisco's NFC Championship Game loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Purdy had surgery in March and returned to the 49ers practice field six months later. After a healthy training camp and preseason, Purdy shined in San Francisco's Week 1 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, which prompted former NFL running back LeSean McCoy to boldly claim on FOX Sports 1's "Speak" on Wednesday that Purdy is the second-best quarterback in the NFC.

"When you look at Brock Purdy, I'm going to be honest about this thing, man. Brock Purdy right now, he's the second-best quarterback in the NFC," McCoy said. "I'm not talking about resumes, because if we do resumes he's nowhere near that. Some of these guys, like Matthew Stafford, throw for so many yards. If we're talking about playing today right now, if you put him on the Cowboys' offense, I'm nervous. Brock Purdy? I'm nervous.

"So despite how you all feel about that, right now I've got him as the second-best quarterback behind [Jalen Hurts]."

That means McCoy ranks Purdy higher than quarterbacks Dak Prescott, Kirk Cousins, Matthew Stafford, Derek Carr, Jared Goff, Daniel Jones, Geno Smith, Justin Fields, Jordan Love, Bryce Young, Baker Mayfield, Desmond Ridder and Sam Howell.

McCoy isn't the only current or former NFL player to rank Purdy in the top half of NFL QBs. After the 49ers' Week 1 win, Dallas Cowboys superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons said Purdy is one of the 15 best signal-callers in the league.

"I just don't think that we should sleep on Brock Purdy anymore," Parsons said on his podcast "The Edge with Micah Parsons." "Yes, he was a seventh-round pick. Yes, he came in late in the season and won six straight games, took [the 49ers] to the NFC Championship before his injury.

"But Purdy, you will not be slept on anymore, brother. I think people are coming for you the same way they come for [Aaron] Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes. Yes, you are surrounded by a good team but you are playing your butt off. And you got one hell of a story, brother."

"If we were to rank Purdy right now, I would put Purdy around, I think Purdy's a top-15 quarterback," Parsons said. "There's things that we still want to see from Purdy, not when Purdy's winning but when Purdy's down. I think that the adversity aspect of the football game is huge. Learning how to play from behind. Learning situational football. It's not something I'm saying he can't do, it's just something that we just haven't seen yet."

Purdy still has a long way to go before he's universally recognized as one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but there's no doubt the 23-year-old is on his way.

And that is evidenced by the ringing endorsements he continues to receive.

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