{"id":151037,"date":"2022-12-07T19:18:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T19:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/49ers-mailbag-how-does-brock-purdy-compare-with-jimmy-garoppolo\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T19:18:08","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T19:18:08","slug":"49ers-mailbag-how-does-brock-purdy-compare-with-jimmy-garoppolo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/49ers-mailbag-how-does-brock-purdy-compare-with-jimmy-garoppolo\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers mailbag: How does Brock Purdy compare with Jimmy Garoppolo?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The 49ers made a move at quarterback Tuesday. no, note that<\/em> move. Baker Mayfield, the ex-Browns and Panthers passer, was claimed off waivers by the Rams, who could be without starter Matthew Stafford for the rest of the season. The 49ers didn’t put in a claim.<\/p>\n

San Francisco instead officially signed Josh Johnson from the Broncos’ practice squad. Johnson and Brock Purdy are the only healthy quarterbacks on the 49ers ’53-man roster, although it’s important to note the team did n’t place Jimmy Garoppolo on injured reserve despite his recently fractured foot. There’s growing optimism he can return at some point during the playoffs. Jacob Eason, meanwhile, remains on the practice squad.<\/p>\n

Thanks for all your great questions this week, which naturally revolve around the ever-churning quarterback position. The questions have been slightly edited for spelling and content.<\/p>\n

What changes or limitations in the playbook would you expect with Brock Purdy? Or no changes at all? \u2014 Dan M.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That’s what makes this transition so intriguing. Purdy’s strengths and weaknesses are similar to Garoppolo’s, which suggests the 49ers don’t have to make a lot of adjustments. He’s got a quick release, throws a catchable ball and is accurate on short and intermediate throws. He completed 71.1 percent of his passes last year at Iowa State. By comparison, the first quarterback taken in the draft, Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett, completed 67.2 percent.<\/p>\n

That suggests the yards-after-catch weaponry that meshed so well with Garoppolo \u2014 Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, etc. \u2014 ought to work well with Purdy, too.<\/p>\n

He also has a Garoppolo-like ability to keep plays alive. That was one of the themes when I interviewed his former coaches in the spring \u2014 Purdy had a way of pulling rabbits from top hats at seemingly impossible moments.<\/p>\n

Like Garoppolo, he doesn’t have a big arm and won’t consistently push the ball deep (Sorry, Danny Gray). One of the consistent critiques of him at Iowa State was that he was late on deep-ball throws and that defenses had time to adjust to heaves down the field. Purdy averaged 7.9 yards per attempt in 2021. Pickett averaged 8.7 yards.<\/p>\n