More on that in a bit. First, let\u2019s take some time to appreciate just how good the 49ers had it in 2025. The mass injury event that stacked the deck against them actually set up the perfect stage to demonstrate the prowess of a quarterback room. <\/p>\n
Because of Purdy\u2019s turf toe injury, both quarterbacks saw a nearly identical workload (Purdy had 340 drop backs and Jones had 336). Both scored in the top 10 of QBR, perhaps the best way to quantify performance at the position. Purdy finished No. 2 while Jones was No. 9, ahead of even Baltimore\u2019s Lamar Jackson. <\/p>\n
And, perhaps most importantly when it comes to the wild world of NFL QB discourse, neither 49er could be rationally denigrated along the lines of \u201chis weapons did all the work\u201d \u2014\u00a0because both Purdy and Jones essentially ran out of weapons and succeeded anyway. Jones\u2019 pinnacle came when he led a skeleton crew to a Week 5 win over the Rams; Purdy\u2019s came in the playoffs when he guided San Francisco to a shorthanded upset over the Eagles. <\/p>\n
Most NFL teams cannot find one quarterback who elevates a system. The 49ers had two. This was the biggest reason behind their miraculous push to 13 wins in adverse circumstances, and it\u2019s statistically illustrated below. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
While Jones did a marvelous job stabilizing the 49ers\u2019 offense in an eight-game stretch of distress (the team went 5-3), Purdy clearly took it new levels \u2014 spearheading top-3 efficiency even though the 49ers no longer have an elite run game (they were No. 10 in EPA per rush) or receiver spacing (they ranked No. 24 in average separation at the time of catch or incompletion). <\/p>\n
In fact, Purdy \u2014 who\u2019s ranked No. 1 of all NFL quarterbacks across several efficiency metrics since joining the league in 2022 \u2014\u00a0actually widened his lead over the rest of the field. And he did so while playing through a turf toe injury and with that severely understaffed supporting cast.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Success rate is a measure of consistency; it represents the percentage of plays that generate a positive EPA.<\/p>\n
The one, and perhaps only, readily apparent statistical weakness of Purdy\u2019s game lies in his 3.5-percent interception rate, a career-high which ranked sixth worst in the league. The fact that three of Purdy\u2019s 10 picks came clustered in one half of nationally-televised football against the Panthers certainly didn\u2019t help the casual fan\u2019s perception of his play. <\/p>\n
But all interceptions come within context, and that\u2019s why more sophisticated stats like QBR, EPA, and ANY\/A exist. All of those metrics punish quarterbacks for throwing picks \u2014 and Purdy still emerged with elite scores in those categories. This suggests that his play generated much more reward than the downside of its risk. <\/p>\n
In fact, Purdy\u2019s overall 2025 efficiency trailed only the clip he delivered in 2023, the season that the 49ers surrounded him with a healthy superteam of skill position weapons. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Much of Purdy\u2019s effectiveness is hidden in some areas of QB performance that may not be as readily visible to the casual observer. <\/p>\n
While it\u2019s easy to fawn over Herculean QB physiques and cannon-like arm strength, great quarterbacks typically differentiate themselves much more subtly in arenas like pressure reversal or down-and-distance management. The QB that can most often turn a high-probability sack into a short gain that preserves manageable situations provides more value than a passer who throws the occasional jaw-dropping laser downfield \u2014 but then misfires on a routine throw that would\u2019ve kept an offense on schedule. <\/p>\n
1 day ago<\/p>\n
4 days ago<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/-C100.00%x100.00%,0.00%,0.00%-S3840x2560-FPNG.png\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/-S3840x2560-FPNG.png\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772372084_698_-S3840x2560-FPNG.png\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n