Brock Purdy has gone from Mr. Irrelevant to NFL MVP candidate in under a year, but not everyone is buying the hype.
That's fine by the 49ers quarterback, though, because he's only concerned about winning -- and he has done plenty of it.
"It's all good," a smiling Purdy told NBC Sports' Peter King, shortly after the 49ers handed the Dallas Cowboys a 42-10 beatdown on "Sunday Night Football" at Levi's Stadium. Purdy's response came as King told him "lots of people still were skeptical of him."
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Purdy threw a career-high four touchdown passes in the blowout win while finishing the game with a career-best 144.4 passer rating. His 123.1 rating so far this season is the NFL's top mark, and his 72.1 completion percentage trails only Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (73.1).
King cited recent NFL quarterback rankings from The Ringer in his "Football Morning in America" column this week, where the outlet placed Purdy at No. 25 behind fellow signal-callers Mac Jones, Derek Carr and Daniel Jones through four weeks of play. The list came after Purdy completed 20 of 21 pass attempts in a win over the Arizona Cardinals, and two weeks after he looked like the veteran quarterback on the field against Daniel Jones and the New York Giants.
"Could you in any circumstance say Mac Jones or Derek Carr is playing better than Brock Purdy?" King asked in his column. "I can think of a lot of words to describe ranking Brock Purdy the 25th-best quarterback in the NFL, but 'logical' is not one of them."
Purdy is no stranger to doubters and critics, though. It's hard for some to separate Purdy's play on the field from his dead-last selection in the draft, but he pays no mind to the naysayers.
San Francisco 49ers
After King told Purdy on Sunday that the 49ers are 13-0 when the 23-year-old plays at least three quarters, the quarterback explained how he keeps things in perspective -- and how the game of football comes so easily to him.
“Every level that I’ve played at growing up it’s like you get to that level and at first you may think it’s a big deal, but then once I start playing it’s like, ‘Man this is just football,' " Purdy told King. "Youth to high school, high school to college, and college to NFL. Just football. Yes, everyone’s better at every level, but at the end of the day, man, you’re throwing a football to some guys trying to get open and catch it. And that’s really how I look at it. Try to keep it simple. This is a simple game.
“Then obviously my faith. I don’t try to get rattled and caught up in trying to have all this status and fame and all that stuff. I’m just a normal guy who’s trying to live out a life for God. That’s how I stay steady and level and even-keeled. If you were to tell me these stats last year, I maybe would’ve been like, ‘Man, that’s crazy.’ I came in as a rookie, and I was sort of in awe of everybody. But then once I got acclimated to the culture and the organization, I’m like, ‘Man, this is the standard, and this is what we’re trying to do.’ That’s where I’m at with my mindset. I don’t try to get caught up in what’s going on, what everyone else says outside.”
King called Purdy's comments "refreshing." And after years of hoping for a signal-caller who can lead their favorite franchise, the 49ers Faithful certainly agree.