How Purdy’s Draft Success Could Open Doors for Other NFL Quarterbacks

Jake Haener doesn’t like it when people compare him to Brock Purdy. He said that they are both similar but different and he’s trying to do something special with a team who believes in him. He was happy for what Purdy had done though.

This year’s draft class is being compared to a quarterback from last year named Purdy. He was chosen as the very last pick in the draft, which earned him the nickname “Mr. Irrelevant”. However, he later developed into an amazing player and helped his team, the San Francisco 49ers, reach the NFC championship game!

Purdy’s great start as a rookie has made it more likely for teams to take a chance on picking college quarterbacks with lower arm strength in next week’s draft.

Haener said that tall, strong guys can throw a lot but winning football games and making the right decisions is really important. He also mentioned that Brock, who is projected as an early Day 3 draft pick, does all these things really well and at a very high level.

Last year, Purdy had missed out on being chosen in the draft lots of times. However, he still got an opportunity when the 49ers picked him with their final selection! The Niners were really impressed with Purdy but they were unsure if they should pick him because Trey Lance was all set to be the starting quarterback and they had also given Nate Sudfeld a whopping two million dollars which meant he’d be the backup.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said that they weren’t going to use their 5th round pick on the player, as it was difficult for him to beat out another player named Sudfeld. At first, they only planned to keep 2 quarterbacks, but since he performed so well with their 7th-round pick, they decided to make an exception and keep three players on their team.

Purdy was chosen ahead of Sudfeld to join the lineup for the Niners with Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. But then when both Lance and Garoppolo were hurt, Purdy stepped in to help the team win their last five games of the regular season and gain the NFV West title. He also won two playoff games before he got injured during the first quarter of the NFC title game against Philadelphia.

The Niners plan to have Purdy as the starting quarterback in 2023* if his elbow surgically recovers. He’s going to be paid less than $900,000 at that time.

Jordan Reid, an ESPN draft analyst said that getting players in late-rounds are like lottery tickets. Someone could end up being a starter or beneficial to the team even if they don’t become starters. With those players, you never know what could happen and they can really surprise you.

In recent years, not many teams have been taking chances on quarterbacks late in the NFL draft. Before Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl in 2002, there had been about seven QBs typically taken during the last three rounds of the draft. And this wasn’t as common anymore since there is no longer an extra quarterback allowed for roster emergencies.

In the past 12 drafts, an average of only 4 Quarterbacks (QB’s) were chosen in the 5th, 6th or 7th rounds. This year, it is expected to increase with an estimate of 7 QBs getting selected in the last 3 rounds of the draft.

People expect there to be many quarterbacks chosen in this year’s draft, resulting in some talented QBs like Jake Haener being selected late. Haener has a lot of experience under his belt; he threw for over 9,000 yards and made 29 starts while playing college football. Other top quarterbacks who will most likely be picked up early in the draft are Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson, Will Levis and Hendon Hooker.

Six football players, Stetson Bennett from Georgia, Aidan O’Connell from Purdue, Jaren Hall from BYU, Clayton Tune from Houston, Dorian Thompson-Robinson from UCLA and Max Duggan from TCU could be drafted in the third round of the NFL Draft. As Duggan said, it’s not important what team you get picked for but whether the team is a good fit for you. Work your hardest to make the most out of any opportunity given.

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