{"id":1021927,"date":"2026-10-08T11:36:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1021927\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:36:26","slug":"49ers-mailbag-does-brock-purdys-start-compare-favorably-to-past-mvps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1021927\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers mailbag: Does Brock Purdy’s start compare favorably to past MVPs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA CLARA \u2014 Going to Seattle with a 4-0 record<\/a> is not enough to ease the concerns of 49ers fans, so maybe this mailbag will answer their social media questions:<\/a><\/p>\n

How does Purdy\u2019s MVP campaign through 4 weeks stack up against other MVP winners through 4 weeks? (@Flynnjutsu)<\/p>\n

This is a fun rabbit hole to dig into, even if a \u201cfour-game MVP\u201d is meaningless when \u201cSuper Bowl MVP\u201d is the goal. Brock Purdy\u2019s hot start<\/a> commands this research. The 49ers\u2019 last MVP was Steve Young in 1994, their last Super Bowl-winning season.<\/p>\n

Each of the past five AP NFL MVPs started 3-1. Only Purdy and the 49ers\u2019 Kryptonite, Patrick Mahomes, are 4-0 this season. Here are Purdy\u2019s numbers compared to the past five MVPs:<\/p>\n

2026 Purdy<\/p>\n

Record: 4-0<\/p>\n

Passing stats: 79-for-113 (69.9%), 1,007 yards, 11 TD, 1 INT, 0 sacks, 126.2 passer rating (leads NFL)<\/p>\n

Rushing stats: 20 carries, 122 yards, 1 TD, 11 first downs, career-best 6.1 ypc.<\/p>\n

2025 Matthew Stafford<\/p>\n

Rams (NFC runner-up)<\/p>\n

Record: 3-1<\/p>\n

Passing stats: 102-for-136 (75%), 1,114 yards, 11 TD, 2 INT, 8 sacks, 119.6 passer rating
Rushing stats: 8 carries, 44 yards, 0 TD<\/p>\n

2024 Josh Allen<\/p>\n

Bills (AFC runner-up)<\/p>\n

Record: 3-1<\/p>\n

Passing stats: 70-for-101 (69.3%), 814 yards, 7 TD, 0 INT, 5 sacks, 116.6 rating
Rushing stats: 22 carries, 106 yards, 2 TDs, 2 lost fumbles<\/p>\n

2023 Lamar Jackson<\/p>\n

Ravens (AFC runner-up)<\/p>\n

Record: 3-1<\/p>\n

Passing stats: 78-for-105 (74.3%), 794 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT, 11 sacks, 104.2 rating
Rushing stats: 41 carries, 220 yards, 4 TDs, 3 lost fumbles<\/p>\n

2022 Patrick Mahomes<\/p>\n

Chiefs (Super Bowl winner)<\/p>\n

Record: 3-1<\/p>\n

Passing stats: 97-for-146 (66.4%), 1,106 yards, 11 TD, 2 INT, 5 sacks, 108.4 rating<\/p>\n

Rushing stats: 13 carries, 64 yards, 0 TD, 0 fumbles lost<\/p>\n

2021 Aaron Rodgers<\/p>\n

Packers (Divisional-round loss to 49ers)<\/p>\n

Record: 3-1<\/p>\n

Passing stats: 70-for-124 (56.5%), 897 yards, 8 TD, 2 INT, 8 sacks, 94.1 rating<\/p>\n

Rushing stats: 7 carries, 8 yards, 0 TD, 0 fumbles lost<\/p>\n

What are the chances John Lynch swings for the fences and trades for Khalil Mack or T.J. Watt? (@JWalizerJr)<\/p>\n

Lynch, you may recall, hit a home run in his Stanford baseball debut<\/a> as a 1990 freshman \u2014\u00a0 the only hit that season for the flame-throwing pitcher. As the 49ers\u2019 GM since 2017, in-season trades include: Jimmy Garoppolo, Christian McCaffrey, Emmanuel Sanders and Chase Young.<\/p>\n

Mack, on an expiring $18 million contract, makes more sense for the winless Chargers to deal than for Watt to EVER leave the Steelers, who last year gave the four-time All-Pro a three-year, $123 million extension.<\/p>\n

Do you see the Niners eventually trading Bosa? Or McCaffrey potentially? (@deathb4dish0nor)<\/p>\n

Nick Bosa is out with a calf injury<\/a> amid an ACL comeback, so his value is not as high as it should be for their defensive front\u2019s mainstay. His contract will have to be reworked by March with a $33 million salary and $55 million cap hit. Would you swap him for Mack? A Bosa already experienced the Chargers and I doubt the 49ers would dare subject the younger brother to that.<\/p>\n

McCaffrey is way, way, way too valuable for the overall offense with the burst and reliability he has shown. Kaelon Black might someday succeed McCaffrey but no way they make that move this season.<\/p>\n

Is there a pass rush without Bosa? (@dcl24sc)<\/p>\n

Kinda. It\u2019s taking a village, with blitzes from linebackers and defensive backs. Bosa secured the 49ers\u2019 2025-opening win in Seattle with a strip-sack of Sam Darnold. Who could replicate that this Sunday? Keion White is my pick among the linemen. Perhaps a blitzing Upton Stout if his shoulder sprain allows. Maybe Malik Mustapha.<\/p>\n

What adjustments will the Niners make with Kyle J out? (@jillsc13)<\/p>\n

Juszczyk\u2019s role is more than a lead blocker for McCaffrey. Purdy targets him for acrobatic receptions. Juszczyk got hurt when he crossed the field in response to a Purdy scramble and was drilled in the knee by a cornerback (fair or foul?).<\/p>\n

The Niners don\u2019t have an every-down replacement for Juice, who has played 48% of their snaps. They could deploy their tight ends as lead blockers or split them out as receivers. Or they could just scheme things differently against a defense that has seized on stopping the run game even when Juszczyk was a key figure. Or, and this is just total spit-balling, maybe he rallies to suit up because he has never missed a 49ers-Hawks duel.<\/p>\n

How many are we allowed to bring back from IR? Who will they be? (@chriquel)<\/p>\n

The 49ers still have all eight activations available off those who went on Injured Reserve after the initial 53-man roster reveal. Defensive end Mykel Williams won\u2019t count because he is coming off the Physically Unable to Perform list.<\/p>\n

Short-term IR candidates: wide receivers Christian Kirk, Demarcus Robinson, and De\u2019Zhaun Stribling; cornerback Nate Hobbs; linebacker Nick Martin; defensive tackle C.J. West; defensive end Sam Okuayinonu; offensive tackle Austen Pleasants. Defensive tackle Alfred Collins and tight end Jake Tonges had season-ending knee surgeries.<\/p>\n

Do you see the 49ers interested in signing Tyreek Hill? This way, they don\u2019t have to see him on the other side when they play KC in the SB \ud83d\ude05 (@SFG_soccer)<\/p>\n

Nope. Hill is not only coming off ACL reconstruction, but he\u2019s also embroiled in more off-field issues, having been accused of domestic violence amid this week\u2019s divorce trial.<\/p>\n

Do the 49ers have enough speed and firepower at WR to actually stress the Seahawks defense? I\u2019m not too confident in the run game, and the banged-up receiver corps going into the game makes me nervous about stalled drives. (@t_veerina28)<\/p>\n

Valid concerns. Solution: Send speedsters Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watson and Brandin Cooks deep a few times, maybe connect on one or two. That said, Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and McCaffrey are ballin\u2019.<\/p>\n

Can you ask ownership why the steep price increase on season tix? (@caballoruiz)<\/p>\n

Ownership is out at the moment. Please leave a message. But Jed York\u2019s suspension ending Oct. 20 is no joking matter. Season-ticket holders already weren\u2019t happy about having to cover the cost of a full slate this season even though the Vikings\u2019 game will take place in Mexico City, with a credit going toward next season (increased costs, apparently).<\/p>\n

Will the NFL flex the game to Sunday Night Football? (@robertdomenichini)<\/p>\n

Too late to do that. It must be done 12 days in advance through Week 13, then a six-day notice is required over the final weeks. Suggestion: Move Raiders-49ers to prime-time on Sunday, Nov. 8 instead of Bucs-Bears.<\/p>\n

Will they have enough warm bodies to field 53? (@albnomaam)<\/p>\n

No matter how many wide receivers and defensive linemen are sidelined, the 49ers\u2019 passing game and overall defense are not cratering, and they\u2019re actually exceeding expectations. Credit the healthy stars, the supporting cast, the coaching staff and, as is their job, the personnel department for identifying suitable replacements.<\/p>\n

Will we win? (@8311bl_joseee)<\/p>\n

Confidence level isn\u2019t increasing after each win. Injuries will catch up to them. But I\u2019m going with the Fat Cat Theory that proved correct in last season\u2019s wild-card playoffs, when the 49ers dethroned the Super Bowl champion Eagles in Philadelphia. The Seahawks\u2019 crown isn\u2019t at stake, and they\u2019re not imploding like the 2025 Eagles, but the 49ers are hot and hungry. The bigger question is whether they\u2019ll light victory cigars in the visitors\u2019 locker room, and they\u2019re smart enough to wait until much later in the season to do that (not saying that the 2025 Seahawks were wrong to do so at Levi\u2019s after their Week 18 win).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA \u2014 Going to Seattle with a 4-0 record is not enough to ease the concerns of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1021928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,2947,24750,1926,1443,7,1921,929,6,1161,252,2624,2623,7910,1929,1930,9],"class_list":["post-1021927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco-49ers","tag-49ers","tag-49ers-hq","tag-49ers-mailbag","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-football","tag-inside-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nfl","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-sanfrancisco","tag-sanfrancisco49ers","tag-santa-clara","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-south-bay","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117405088704258754","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1021927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1021927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1021927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1021928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1021927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1021927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1021927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}