What Steve Young wants to see from 49ers' Brock Purdy this season

In his first full campaign as the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback, Brock Purdy emerged as a regular-season Most Valuable Player Award finalist before he guided the club to within one defensive stop of a Super Bowl title.

During a recent appearance on the "49ers Talk" podcast, franchise legend and Hall of Fame signal-caller Steve Young explained how Purdy can improve in his third pro campaign.

"I think that he needs to think about spitting out 50, 60 yards a game with his legs," Young told podcast host Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, as shared by David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone. "…And you don't have to necessarily do it every time, but defenses need to know, 'Oh, in a key moment, he just got the first down' because it's wide open. Go take it."

Purdy has earned a reputation for extending plays and buying time in the pocket via his legs, but the 24-year-old isn't necessarily known for torching opposing defenses with his rushing skills. Across the first 25 regular-season games (21 starts) of his career, Purdy picked up just 157 total yards on the ground.

With that said, the Associated Press (h/t ESPN) noted how Purdy completed a pair of 21-yard scrambles in San Francisco's 34-31 win over the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game this past January. Such plays give Young reasons to believe Purdy should look for additional rushing lanes during the upcoming season.

"Patrick Mahomes does a great job," Young continued. "Josh Allen, you see that all the time. Lamar Jackson, you see it. Look, Brock knows he's not that guy, but he can be a threat, and I think that threat needs to come out more this year."

Purdy understandably may not want to routinely risk his health during games considering he won't sign any type of contract extension before next offseason at the earliest. With that said, Purdy averaging 30 or even 25 rushing yards per contest could help make him a better overall offensive weapon as long as he remembers to avoid punishing hits whenever he scampers out of the pocket and down the field.