One is arguably the greatest quarterback of all time. The other has five NFL starts under his belt.
Still, that hasn’t stopped multiple people to comparing Brock Purdy to Joe Montana, he of four Super Bowl rings.
And it’s not just randos on Twitter. According to Senior Producer of NFL Films Greg Cosell, a former NFL coach sees the similarities.
“I don’t want you to fall off your chair, I had a former NFL coach, he will remain nameless because I don’t do that, but you’d know who he is,” Cosell told Murph & Mac on Thursday. “He thinks Brock Purdy reminds him of Joe Montana.”
While the comparison is obviously insanely premature, from a purely stylistic standpoint, you can see what people are getting at. Purdy is extremely mobile in the pocket while always keeping his eyes down the field, a staple of Montana. He is also unbothered by pressure, able to deliver short to medium passes with precision and can air it out with accuracy when required.
“The thing about Purdy, he’s obviously been incredibly poised and composed in the way which he plays,” Cosell said. “The ball comes out. He knows where to go with the football. He’s been really effective vs. pressure, I think that’s a really important point. He does not play fast or overreact to pressure. He knows where to go with the ball.
“Pressure, normally people consider it and it’s easier for the benefit of a conversation to say five-man rushes or more, that’s pressure. He’s been really good. He’s had 27 completions vs. five-man pressure and 18 of those 27 have resulted in first downs. So, that’s what you want. You want to be able to get first downs. Keep one thing in mind.”
Like Montana, Purdy also has the benefit of having incredible players around him. He doesn’t have Jerry Rice, but he might still have more weapons that Montana ever did.
“The 49ers, now that [Deebo] Samuel is back, you now have five guys who can lineup anywhere in the formation,” Cosell continued. “They’re all multi-positional. That makes it difficult for a defense, and Kyle is very good at formation variation and multiple locations with his receivers and motions. This team is so good with motion. That McCaffrey 21-yard touchdown on the screen this week, that was just a thing of beauty. And Purdy is just executing at a really high level right now.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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