Brock Purdy snubbed in NFL coach, exec QB rankings
· Yahoo Sports
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was left off ESPN's annual top 10 NFL quarterback rankings for 2026, landing instead in the honorable mentions after a 2025 season in which he missed half the schedule to a turf toe injury but posted some of the most efficient numbers at the position.
Visit freshyourfeel.com for more information.
ESPN surveyed more than 70 league executives, coaches and scouts for the rankings, published Monday. Purdy didn't crack the top 10, sliding in among honorable mentions that included Jayden Daniels, Jordan Love, Baker Mayfield, Trevor Lawrence and Jalen Hurts.
"He has got two superpowers," an NFC executive said about Purdy. "Layering the ball and short-area quickness to stay alive. He's elite in those two areas."
That praise stands in contrast to where voters ultimately placed him. Purdy started nine games in 2025, throwing for 2,167 yards, 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing 69.4% of his passes, and the 49ers went 13-4 and reached the divisional round.
The snub runs counter to how analytics-driven outlets have graded Purdy's season. Pro Football Focus ranked him the NFL's 10th-best quarterback entering 2026, ahead of eight former No. 1 overall picks. His 85.4 PFF grade ranked sixth among quarterbacks, and his 65.8 passing grade under pressure ranked third. PFF noted his 9.0% pressure-to-sack rate led the league, a mark that reflects his ability to process and release the ball before a pocket fully collapses, and his 78.7% accuracy rate was among the league's best.
Purdy was elite in some other areas, too. His ability to avoid sacks meant he didn't leave any efficiency on the board. Purdy also led all NFL quarterbacks in EPA per play on third and fourth down last season among passers with at least 100 late-down snaps, posting a 0.58 mark that dwarfed Love's second-place 0.42 and Drake Maye's third-place 0.33.
Voters who left Purdy off the list may have also pointed to San Francisco's talent around him, but the data complicates that narrative. PFF's supporting cast grades placed the 49ers fifth in the league last season at 80.6 overall, with the receiving corps sixth at 80.9 — solid, but well behind the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts, and not the runaway advantage often assumed given the star power of Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle.
Purdy has proven to an ascending elite quarterback in the NFL, but it doesn't sound as if the rest of the league has caught up to that idea just yet.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Brock Purdy snubbed in NFL coach, exec QB rankings