The rationale behind Brock Purdy’s advantage with the 49ers

Among other accomplishments, Brock Purdy’s incredible 2023 season cemented his place in 49ers history by recording the most throwing yards in the team’s annals. He and Jimmy Garoppolo, his predecessor, have been compared frequently, but now there’s another one: Brock Purdy vs. Colin Kaepernick.

Patrick Willis, a former 49ers linebacker who is shortly to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, opted for Kaepernick over Purdy.

Willis was asked a question on Robert Griffin III’s podcast, RGIII and the Ones: 2012 Kaepernick or 2023 Purdy? Although Willis had given Purdy a great deal of praise in the past, he chose to start with the quarterback with whom he disagreed during his last two seasons with the 49ers. Below is a

transcription of the interview’s summary:

“I’ll have to give it to Kap. Many people can look back and criticize how he appeared to be spending his final year or two with the Niners or in other ways. He took the necessary action. Though it might not have been in the manner of a conventional quarterback, you guys—RGIII in particular—were really amazing. But that’s a hard one, Purdy, man. I adore both 1A and 1B.

Remember that this is Colin Kaepernick from 2012. RGIII made that point clear. In his later years, Colin Kaepernick did not turn out like this. Moreover, Willis has been outspoken in his criticism of Purdy, placing him perhaps slightly behind Kaepernick (the 1a and 1b).

In any case, I understand Willis’ decision to support Kaepernick. In addition to the fact that the two were teammates, Kaepernick was a beast in 2012.

I tried to locate a video of Willis being taken aback by Kaepernick’s running pace during the NFC Divisional matchup with the Green Bay Packers, but I was unsuccessful. Everyone believed the 49ers had something special when he took the field against the Chicago Bears. Everyone wondered what the ceiling was as he began racing the handgun and dashing defenses with his legs.

It turns out that what we were seeing was essentially the ceiling. All those careless throws in 2012 that were blamed on “inexperience” and being a “one-read man early in his career” were never addressed, and as time went on, Kaepernick declined (poor coaching surely didn’t help).

While Purdy committed many of the same errors as Kaepernick, many of them were isolated incidents. Brock Purdy has very seldom made the same error twice. By the same token, Kaepernick would have scored easy touchdowns on a few of Purdy’s incredible runs throughout the playoffs.

Kaepernick was so elusive that a spy had to put his leg defenses on him. With just a glance, Kaepernick would dart across the field if they went with man coverage. Even when it shouldn’t have, it succeeded. Like with Purdy, second and third reads just never materialized despite the success, for whatever reason.

Then there was Kaepernick’s incredible arm strength, which outclassed Purdy’s underappreciated strength.

I wonder how much more space the 49ers would have in the backfield if they could use some one-read-and-go plays to compel opponents to place a spy on Purdy like Kaepernick. However, Purdy’s increased running exposes him to the risk of injury, and he consistently surprises you with a run.

With whom would you go? 2023: Purdy or Kaepernick from 2012?