Keyshawn Johnson Shuts Down ‘System Quarterback’ Narrative Haunting Brock Purdy

Keyshawn Johnson believes Brock Purdy is a top 10 quarterback.

Keyshawn Johnson Shuts Down ‘System Quarterback’ Narrative Haunting Brock Purdy

Brock Purdy and Keyshawn Johnson (Image via IMAGO)

Brock Purdy signed a five-year, $265 million extension with the San Francisco 49ers that will keep him in the Bay Area until 2030. However, this extension raised several questions about the 49ers’ future direction.

Most analysts wanted the 49ers to refrain from giving Purdy a $53 million per year deal because of how he performed in 2024. He looked good in patches. However, the absence of all-pro caliber players such as Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk greatly impacted Purdy’s season.

The 49ers only won six games all season, and the tag of ‘system quarterback’ sounded more appropriate with each passing week.

A question mark was placed on his skills as a long-term NFL quarterback. Usually, quarterbacks who can think for themselves and adjust based on the situation at hand stay longer in the league than those who are only able to thrive in a particular system.

Despite the chatter, general manager John Lynch still viewed the 25-year-old as their franchise quarterback. The new extension lifted Purdy from dawdling among the bottom feeders to the seventh-highest-paid NFL quarterback of all time, rubbing shoulders with Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa and Lions QB Jared Goff.

Brock Purdy is no longer Mr. Irrelevant. Retired wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson believes he is in the latter half of the top 10 NFL quarterback list.

Brock is in the second half of the top 10. Wherever you want to put him. You can put him at 7, 8, 9 — as far as I’m concerned, he’s in there.

Keyshawn Johnson said in a recent segment of FS1’s The Facility

If that is true, then it’s easy to bring Jimmy Garoppolo into the conversation. Jimmy G led the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance just like Purdy, but he wasn’t considered a top 10 prospect. As a matter of fact, Kyle Shanahan received most of the praise for his system.

Keyshawn Johnson explained the difference between the Jimmy Garoppolo and Brock Purdy era at 49ers

Johnson bore witness to both the Jimmy G era in San Francisco and Purdy’s. He found Purdy to be the more dominant of the two players.

Keyshawn Johnson Shuts Down 'System Quarterback' Narrative Haunting Brock Purdy
Brock Purdy (Image via IMAGO)

Regardless of whether people think it’s the Kyle Shanahan system, everybody in the system can’t do the same thing… Cause Jimmy Garoppolo, even though he was in the system, and he went to a Super Bowl, he didn’t play as well as Brock Purdy in the system.

Keyshawn Johnson said

It’s difficult for a player to lose a certain tag they never wanted to begin with. Purdy managed to get rid of the Mr. Irrelevant stigma through his performances in the first two years.

He regressed in 2024, but not too much. After playing 15 games, he recorded 3864 yards from 455 attempts, threw 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, along with five touchdowns on the ground. Despite the passer rating going below 100 for the first time, Purdy completed 65.9% of his passes and 8.5 yards per throw, which was better than his rookie season.

The new contract is a testament to Purdy’s hard work. However, the numbers put extra pressure on him to deliver in the new campaign. If he falters again, then Lynch would not hesitate to replace him with another quarterback.

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