Brock Purdy is the Newest Addition to List of 49ers’ Fantasy Football Stars
The San Francisco 49ers have become a gold mine for fantasy football stars.
Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle steal a lot of the headlines, while Brandon Aiyuk has emerged as a potential valuable fantasy asset this season.
The biggest question for the team was whether or not they could find a reliable quarterback to consistently get the ball in their hands, and Brock Purdy has answered that question. Purdy is quietly emerging as one of the better fantasy quarterbacks and he’s now into the “must start” territory each week he’s on the field.
Let’s dive into some of the numbers with Purdy and discuss what to do with him if he’s on your roster or if he’s worth acquiring if he’s not.
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Brock Purdy Fantasy Outlook
Purdy has never been the flashiest quarterback, but he’s been consistent in his short NFL career.
Let’s begin by looking at his five regular season starts in 2022. In those games, he finished with at least 178 passing yards and two touchdowns in each, while throwing just two interceptions combined.
There was some concern Purdy couldn’t be the same player after his elbow injury in the NFC Championship Game, but he’s put those issues to rest through three weeks this season. Purdy has thrown for over 200 yards in each game and had two touchdowns in two of the three games so far. In the game he didn’t throw for a touchdown, he rushed for one. He’s yet to throw an interception in 2023.
Purdy put together one of his best games yet against the Giants on Thursday night, completing 25-of-37 passes for 310 yards and two scores. His two touchdown passes were extremely difficult throws.
Why I Like Purdy Moving Forward
To state things simply on why I believe Purdy is going to finish as one of the top fantasy quarterbacks, it’s because there isn’t much risk involved. Purdy has shown that he takes care of the ball, and there aren't a lot of risky passes every game that he’s asked to make.
Purdy is most often tasked with getting the ball out quickly and then letting McCaffrey, Samuel, Aiyuk and Kittle do the rest. Of Purdy’s 736 passing yards, 349 of those yards have come after the catch.
Having watched parts of the Niners’ first two games and then their entire game against the Giants, I still think there’s room for improvement on offense as well. The offense still went for 441 total yards without Aiyuk against the Giants, and getting a few other guys involved instead of him will only help moving forward.
I think part of the reason the offense hasn’t clicked as well as it was when Purdy took over the starting job in 2022 is because they are easing the young quarterback back into things. If there isn’t a flare up with Purdy’s injury, I’d expect the playbook to keep expanding, and Purdy’s numbers to continue to improve. I’m not saying he’s going to drop back 50+ times a contest, but 250+ passing yards and a couple of scores each week are possible. Without too many turnovers attached to those numbers, Purdy is going to be one of the top-scoring players at the position every week.
What to do with Purdy
Our numbers show Purdy is owned in just 78% of leagues and started in 32%. I’m shocked at those numbers, but expect them to keep moving in a positive direction with each passing week.
If Purdy is still available in your league’s waiver wire, you need to put in a claim for him now. I don’t even care if you own Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen. At the very least, get Purdy on your roster and pick up a valuable trading chip for later in the season.
If you need to bid for Purdy going into week 4, it’s probably going to cost you a decent amount, but he’s going to be worth it, so I’d be fine with using up to around 35% of my remaining budget to go get him. If you are in a dynasty league that uses bidding, I'd probably spend even a bit more.
If you already have Purdy on your roster, you’re probably going to receive several offers for him. If you roster Mahomes, Allen, Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson or Tua Tagovailoa, those are probably the only guys I’d trust enough to ship out Purdy. Use Purdy to get help at the running back, wide receiver or tight end spots, and then simply stream a quarterback when your guy is on their bye week.
If you don’t own one of those quarterbacks and Purdy is already on another team, I’d reach out and try to trade for Purdy. You could offer one of your quarterbacks in return and then sweeten the offer with a flier at the RB, WR or TE spot.
Purdy will go up against some strong defenses as the season rolls along, but he hasn’t shown me anything in any of his games started to have any doubts about playing him. Until further notice, I think Purdy should be started each and every week.
