Brock Purdy's last full offseason came as a rookie in 2022. However, calling it a "full offseason" is misleading. He was buried on the San Francisco 49ers' depth chart, limiting his practice reps. Despite this, Purdy showed enough promise to earn a spot on the 53-man roster. Just months later, he took over the starting quarterback job and hasn't relinquished it since.
Last offseason was crucial for Purdy's development. Unfortunately, he was recovering from surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow. Purdy didn't get to throw to teammates until training camp, leaving some uncertainty about his effectiveness following such a significant injury.
Purdy finished last season with a single-season franchise-record 4,280 passing yards, leading the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance.
This year marks Purdy's first full offseason as a healthy starter. The increased workload is expected to benefit him greatly, and he admits to being "hungry" for redemption after February's heartbreaking defeat.
"We got all the way to the end. We're right there and weren't able to finish it," Purdy said during the 49ers' "State of the Franchise" event. "So for me, I had that taste in my mouth, and then get back into the gym, start slowly, working into it. And then here, in OTAs, getting with [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] and going over all the games that we played in, every play, and going over situational football and stuff, and taking that and actually going out on the field and running things and repping things, and throwing to the receivers.
"Last year, I didn't have that, so now that I'm able to attack those kinds of things, I feel like I've gotten better."
During the same event, Shanahan discussed his third-year quarterback, sharing that he was impressed not only with Purdy's on-field performance but also with his character.
"Brock's as genuine of a person as I've been around," Shanahan said. "And when you have someone who's like that, such a solid foundation of who they are as a man, what they want in life, Brock is a really good person who is totally dedicated to his job and his craft and being the best at it, and he's extremely talented at it. So, whatever Brock goes through, he gets stronger, good or bad."
Shanahan added, "He's just as genuine as a person and as genuine as you guys see on tape. And when those two go together, just put good people around him that are like-minded, and usually good things happen."
Purdy and his teammates are currently on a break. They will report back to the 49ers at the end of July for training camp, looking to prepare for the rigors of the regular season and hoping to finish with a championship in hand.
