It should be no surprise that Brock Purdy features in A to Z Sports' list of the Top 105 players in the NFL.
What may raise some eyebrows is his position on the list comparative to one of the greatest to ever play the game.
Purdy, after an extraordinary first full season as the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback in which he was the MVP frontrunner for much of the campaign and was a play away from winning the Super Bowl, came in at No. 71 on the list.
Most would probably agree that is a fair ranking of a player that still has more to prove despite his remarkable efforts in 2023.
But more will likely have questions about Purdy being ranked four spots ahead of New York Jets star Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers, of course, played only four snaps of his first season with the Jets before it infamously came to an end when he suffered a torn Achilles.
Still, he is a four-time MVP and future Hall of Famer who is destined for Canton, seeing him behind the final pick in the 2022 draft may look extremely strange to many.
Purdy, though, has an instant opportunity to justify that ranking in the 2024 season.
The 49ers will play host to the Jets in the Monday Night Football opener, which will serve as Rodgers' return. The fact the 49ers were his boyhood team and that the Niners have tormented him in the playoffs over the years adds significant spice to the occasion.
Purdy won't be focusing on Rodgers when he starts his preparation for that game, he will be concentrating on the challenge posed by the Jets' vaunted defense. Still, that primetime opener gives him the chance to outduel Rodgers and justify his place ahead of him in the rankings.
Much is made of the support Purdy gets from the Kyle Shanahan offense, but the fact is he has been one of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL when he hasn't had the clean looks the 49ers' scheme so consistently delivers. The 49ers' run to the Super Bowl, in which Purdy authored two comeback wins, and his admirable performance with poor pass protection in the Super Bowl , illustrated his ability to make things happen when the picture is significantly muddied.
Rodgers was highly regarded as a creator during his best years with the Green Bay Packers, yet his mobility was already significantly reduced before his Achilles injury, and he did not show much ability to elevate his supporting cast in his final season at Lambeau.
With Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall on the Jets' offense, Rodgers might not need to do as much elevating of those around him, but he will still be playing behind a highly questionable New York offensive line that faces an extremely stiff test from the 49er defense in Week 1.
Rodgers would take great pleasure in defying the doubters, but right now it is difficult to see any other outcome than Purdy demonstrating why he deserves to be ranked above one of the best quarterbacks of all time.
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