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49ers QB Brock Purdy Says He Throws Blind 40 Percent of the Time

This was a strange thing to admit during a contract negotiation.
Grant Cohn|
Dec 12, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) throws a pass against the Los Angeles Rams in the second quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Dec 12, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) throws a pass against the Los Angeles Rams in the second quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

This was a strange thing to admit during a contract negotiation.

Brock Purdy and his agent want a contract that will make him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL. This week, Purdy was interviewed by the Built 4 More Podcast, and unprompted he explained that he throws blind 40 percent of the time.

“So, my quarterback coach Brian Griese, the last couple years, he and I talked about that," Purdy said. "He played 11 years; his dad’s Bob Griese. We got talking about how really it’s 60-40 you can see about 60 percent of the time, and the other 40 percent, you really can’t.

"I mean doesn’t matter how bigger you are—I’m already shorter in stature, yes—but he goes that’s why it’s so important when it comes down to knowing coverages, knowing scheme, where our players are supposed to be, how many steps they’re breaking, and where the ball should be over a certain backer."

Purdy is a smart guy and the points he makes are valid, but he can't speak for all quarterbacks. Clearly, they all threw a certain percentage of their passes blind, but 40 percent seems high. It means Purdy throws blindly to a spot almost half the time. So if you know his tendencies and the tendencies of the 49ers' offensive playcaller, Kyle Shanahan, you can intercept Purdy.

Maybe that's why Purdy's interception percentage has climbed each season he has been in the NFL. In 2022, it was 2.4. In 2023, it was 2.5. And in 2024, it was 2.6. Meanwhile, the league average last season was 2.2.

We all love Purdy's gunslinger mentality, but it gets the 49ers into trouble more than it helps them sometimes.

Just take the checkdown, Brock. Don't force so many passes to receivers you can't even see.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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