49ers QB Brock Purdy eager to prove he’s not ‘irrelevant’

Being the last pick in this year’s draft will follow quarterback Brock Purdy throughout his NFL career. The “Mr. Irrelevant” label attached to being the final selection won’t define him, though.

Purdy is preparing to make his first NFL start after entering last weekend’s game due to Jimmy Garoppolo’s foot injury. The rookie quarterback proved he was ready for the opportunity, and this week against Tom Brady and the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he looks to prove that his impressive showing against the Miami Dolphins wasn’t a fluke.

As for “Mr. Irrelevant,” Purdy has moved past the moniker, even though it keeps resurfacing whenever he speaks to reporters.

“People, they make a joke out of it and whatnot, and it’s all fun and games in terms of taking the trip and meeting great people and that kind of thing,” Purdy said this past week, “but for myself, I’ve always believed that I don’t care what slot, what round, what pick that I get picked or if I was undrafted. My whole thing was, man, I just want to go out and, and prove to myself that I can play at this level. And so that’s always been my mentality.

“Even though I was the last pick, that’s just where I happened to fall in the draft. I’ve embraced the role in terms of having fun with it when I got here with the guys and going on the trip and everything, but at the end of the day, for me, it’s like, man, I got an opportunity to come and play for the 49ers and compete, make the team and do what it takes to push these guys in the locker room and win at all costs. That’s really where I’ve been with it.”

Purdy started the season as the third quarterback on the depth chart. Some might view that as a slight, but it was actually evidence of the 49ers’ confidence in the 22-year-old player. Purdy beat out veteran Nate Sudfeld, and had the team not brought back Garoppolo, head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch would have been comfortable with Purdy as Trey Lance’s backup.

“I think the biggest testament to our belief in him is that we kept three quarterbacks (including Purdy),” Lynch said during a radio interview this week. “We don’t do that much. Haven’t done that much at all in our tenure. So I think the fact that we did spoke volumes of Brock.”

The 49ers showed more faith in the young quarterback against the Dolphins. Purdy attempted 37 passes. That’s not something that happens if your coach lacks faith in you.

“He hung in there, took some big hits,” Shanahan said, “made some big-time throws, wasn’t scared to pull the trigger, ran around, made a couple of off-schedule plays, and I was really impressed with him. When it was all said and done on offense, I think he was probably the player of the game.”

Purdy is grateful for the opportunity to play for the 49ers, even if he was the last of 262 draft picks. While he tries to put “Mr. Irrelevant” behind him, he remains grateful for that too.

“I don’t hate the term or anything like that,” Purdy said. “The people that we went and met are great. We still talk to them. What they do for different organizations and raising money, it’s for a great cause. I’m very thankful for how it all worked out.”