All 49ers

Is 49ers QB Brock Purdy a Product of Christian McCaffrey?

Brock Purdy is one heck of a quarterback, he's only special when Christian McCaffrey plays.
Grant Cohn|
Dec 24, 2022; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) embraces quarterback Brock Purdy (13) during warmups before the start of the first quarter against the Washington Commanders at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images
Dec 24, 2022; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) embraces quarterback Brock Purdy (13) during warmups before the start of the first quarter against the Washington Commanders at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images | Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

In this story:

San Francisco 49ers

Brock Purdy is one heck of a quarterback, he's only special when Christian McCaffrey plays.

In Purdy's NFL career, he's 18-6 when Christian McCaffrey is in and 5-7 when McCaffrey is out. That's a big difference. Something about McCaffrey's skill set makes Purdy perform at his absolute best.

And McCaffrey isn't the 49ers' only talented weapon. They have the best tight end in the NFL -- George Kittle. They have a terrific wide receiver -- Jauan Jennings. Plus they always have an efficient running game no matter who the running back is. Last season, they averaged 4.7 yards per carry -- seventh-best in the NFL. And McCaffrey hardly played.

But what they don't have when McCaffrey is out is a player who can run routes and catch passes out of the backfield. That ability seems to unlock the 49ers' offensive scheme and Purdy's full capabilities.

Purdy doesn't quite have the arm to threaten defenses deep and outside the numbers the way Matthew Stafford does. So Purdy wouldn't necessarily take full advantage of a true No. 1 wide receiver such as Justin Jefferson or Ja'Marr Chase.

That's why Purdy needs an elite check-down option such as McCaffrey. With that player, Purdy doesn't try to do too much. Without that player, Purdy tends to hold the ball too long, force it downfield and get intercepted with the game on the line.

And once defenses sell out to stop Purdy from passing to McCaffrey, the rest of the passing game opens up, especially downfield.

Unless the 49ers are confident they can find another McCaffrey in the upcoming draft, they should think long and hard about paying Brock Purdy more than $40 million per season. Because he's only worth that much when he's combined with McCaffrey.

Read more

Published
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.

Share on XFollow grantcohn
Home/News