With the 262nd overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers selected Brock Purdy, quarterback out of Iowa State. Purdy was the last pick in the entire draft, an “honor” that has traditionally led to the nickname of “Mr. Irrelevant.”

However, unlike other Mr. Irrelevants over the years, Purdy is not living up to the nickname. In fact, this nickname has come to be more than misleading.

In 2017, his senior year, Purdy won the Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year at Perry High School in Gilbert, Arizona. He threw for 4,410 yards and 57 touchdowns and ran for over 1,000 yards while still maintaining a 3.8 GPA. Despite this, he graduated with just 13 offers as a three-star recruit. In other words, he had “that dog in him” in high school. Unfortunately, that dog did not bark much in college.

Some of the many schools that wanted him included Boise State, Texas A&M, and even Alabama. Surprisingly, Purdy committed to Iowa State.

After his freshman year at Iowa State, he won HM All-Big 12, Big 12 True Freshman of the Year, Dury Moss Outstanding Newcomer Award, and Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team. He was by far the best quarterback to ever come through Iowa State, but that is not saying much because the competition was limited.

Purdy won 14 other awards and honors through his college career, but he still seemed to be nothing more than an average quarterback.

Many, like Saint Paul’s junior Vincent Cruise, an Iowa State fan, thought that Purdy wouldn’t amount to anything outside of college. “He was an average college quarterback, and I didn’t even think he would get drafted.”

After his senior year, Purdy declared for the NFL Draft.

As the NFL Draft came to a close in the final round of its final day, Purdy was preparing to become an undrafted free agent. Unbeknownst to him, he received a call informing him that he was going to be drafted late.

Soon afterward, the San Francisco 49ers made him the last pick of the NFL Draft.

Interestingly enough, that same team had mortgaged its future to trade up in Round 1 and select its franchise quarterback with the 3rd overall pick, Trey Lance.

Going into the start of the season, the entirety of the NFL waited to see who would win the starting QB spot: Trey Lance, or Jimmy Garoppolo. Purdy wasn’t even in the conversation. He remained Mr. Irrelevant.

With an incoming season of high hopes from fans, Trey Lance ended up with the position, but in Week 2 he went down with a season-ending leg injury. Garoppolo took over, and just like how Purdy was in college, Garoppolo was an average quarterback.

What kept Garoppolo afloat was that he was leading the most talented team in the NFL. However, many believed the team was winning in spite of Garoppolo and not because of him. In other words, fans thought the team’s record should have been better.

Unfortunately, Garoppolo went down with a season-ending injury in Week 13. At that point, Brock Purdy, Mr. Irrelevant, and third stringer, was thrust into a position as a starter for one of the best teams in the NFL.

In Purdy’s first-ever NFL start, he led the team to a 30-7 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Many fans saw sparks of talent in that game from him that they were not expecting at all.

Week after week, win after win, Purdy had found his spot on the roster that was not going to be replaced. It seemed like all the bad tendencies he had in college were dropped. Fans fell in love with him and wanted him to stay.

Purdy had a burning passion to prove everyone that underestimated him wrong. He refused to lose. Certainly, it helped to be playing under offensive scheme guru Kyle Shanahan on a team with a great offensive line and great pass catchers. One could make the argument that he is a systematic quarterback in an unbelievably talented team, but that would be illogical because other 49ers quarterbacks never went on a win streak like Purdy did.

Purdy led the 49ers to a win every week from the first game all the way to the playoffs.

After doubling the Seattle Seahawks score in the first round of the playoffs, the 49ers had to play the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys had a phenomenal defense led by Micah Parsons, but Purdy could not care less about who was chasing after him; he would get the ball out of his hands and into the end zone.

To win the NFC Championship, the 49ers had to play their toughest opponent yet: the Philadelphia Eagles. It was expected to be an extremely close game.

Going into the game, during the win streak, many had forgotten that Purdy was Mr. Irrelevant. But against the Eagles, Purdy would have to out-duel the runner-up for MVP, Eagles’ quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Unfortunately, with a hit from Haason Reddick that seemed to silence every 49ers fan around the country, Purdy went down. He had injured his elbow.

For the rest of the game, Josh Johnson substituted in and failed to win, like every other 49ers quarterback not nicknamed Mr. Irrelevant. Josh Johnson’s horrible performance made it is clear to see that not every quarterback can succeed in San Francisco.

Purdy spent the entire offseason rehabbing an elbow injury that many believed would sideline him for the beginning of the 2023 season. Again, there were talks about whether Purdy would remain the starter.

Not only was Purdy ready for Week 1, he beat every opponent he played and expanded upon his undefeated record when healthy.

It wasn’t enough Week 6 that Purdy came face to face with his first ever loss, after a 10-0 start to his career. The Cleveland Browns had destroyed the now relevant king and along with that his confidence. Purdy realized he was breakable. The 49ers suffered a back-to-back loss after facing the Minnesota Vikings, and then to everyone’s surprise, they lost to the Bengals in a 31-17 beating. Suddenly, Purdy was on a 3-game losing streak.

Every quarterback hits a rough patch. Purdy has yet to even play a full NFL season. It was bound to happen soon, so do not expect these three losses to be the norm.

A bet against this Mr. Irrelevant has proven to be a bad one.