"He's very good at navigating the pocket, buying time, using his legs -- you're not going to win because of him in most cases," the NFC executive told Fowler. "He's a really good system quarterback."
This type of dismissal infuriates the 49ers fanbase, as critics are quick to credit the quarterback's supporting cast and head coach Kyle Shanahan's offensive system for Purdy's early success.
After coming so close to a championship last season, one 49ers defender believes Purdy has what it takes to lift the team to Super Bowl glory. NFL insider Tom Pelissero, filling in as a guest host on the "Rich Eisen Show," asked cornerback Deommodore Lenoir why Purdy gives the team confidence that they can win it all.
"Just his poise and his confidence, the swagger he played with," Lenoir told Pelissero. "Just seeing him come in and taking reps with the threes and then becoming a starter, his walk started to be different. You could tell that he started to [win over] the locker room, and everyone started to believe."
Lenoir knew the 49ers had something special in Purdy when the then-rookie stepped in to start against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after injuries to two quarterbacks during the 2022 season.
"He was zipping them," Lenoir commented. "And that's when I kind of knew he was legit. To just process Shanahan's scheme and then go out there and just be that efficient, it was crazy."
Lenoir also commented on the locker room impact of losing February's Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs, believing it won't fracture the tight-knit group.
"We always been close, even after the Eagles loss in the NFC [Championship Game during the 2022 season]," Lenoir said. "It just brings us tighter, when we was able to get another step further. We didn't finish it with the win, but I feel like, this year, we got to get that taste out of our mouths."
Lenoir added that it just comes down to the 49ers finding a way to finish those big games, saying, "We got the pieces in the locker room, and we got the players that's willing to do it, and we got the coaches that's willing to call the right plays. We just got to finish."