Will the 49ers need quarterback Brock Purdy to play at an elite level throughout the 2023 NFL season to contend for a Super Bowl championship?
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons doesn’t believe so.
On a recent episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” he was joined by former NFL executive Michael Lombardi, who explained why Purdy doesn’t have to be special for the 49ers to succeed this season.
“From top to bottom, it’s the most loaded team in the league,” Simmons said. “They have a crazy schedule. It’s front-loaded in one way, and then it gets easier, but for the most part, really Purdy is the only thing that I look at and go, ‘OK, that’s a concern.’ But I thought Purdy was OK. Like they really just need a B-minus at quarterback.”
“They just need an average point guard,” Lombardi said. “All he’s got to do is just get the ball to them, All Purdy has to do is make the easy throw, easy. He doesn’t have to make it hard — get the ball to Deebo [Samuel].
“One thing about the 49ers, if they were a basketball team, they would shoot very little shots outside the hashmarks. Everything they do is inside the middle of the field. … Like Purdy doesn’t have to be great. He can be Bob Griese. Hand the ball off, throw it to Paul Warfield, and let the defense carry the day.”
The 49ers averaged 32.6 points per game in the seven games Purdy started last season. If he can produce at a similar level in his sophomore campaign, the 49ers will be in great position to claim the franchise’s ever-elusive sixth Lombardi Trophy.
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