Super Bowl LVIII: Brock Purdy has San Francisco 49ers sitting pretty at QB for near future

LAS VEGAS -- Brock Purdy kept his head down and his hopes up. He studied his playbook relentlessly, competed as hard as possible and prayed that his hard work would pay off. One of the few noteworthy aspects of Purdy when he arrived at his first San Francisco 49ers training camp was his status as Mr. Irrelevant, the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. Purdy also was toiling on a quarterback depth chart that included Trey Lance, the third overall pick in the previous year's draft, and Jimmy Garoppolo, who led the team to a Super Bowl in the 2019 season and the NFC Championship Game in 2021.

Purdy did his best to support Lance, a player groomed to become the team's next franchise quarterback. Purdy maximized his opportunities with limited practice reps, as well, fully aware that his spot on the roster wasn't guaranteed. With all those challenges stacked against him, the rookie signal-caller couldn't help wondering what 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan thought about his potential, a question that didn't really have an answer until injuries thrust Purdy into a starting job late in the 2022 season. As Purdy told reporters last week, "I got my opportunity against Miami (in Week 13) and we talked after that. That's when [Shanahan] started telling me, 'Hey, since you've been here, you've been doing everything right.' "

Purdy had no way of knowing the excitement he created in the organization back when he was simply worried about survival. Shanahan even pulled owner Jed York aside after one training camp practice and revealed that Purdy looked like the best quarterback on the roster in those early days. It was an alarming admission for York to process -- "One thing that owners don't love to hear when they've invested money and/or draft