The NFL’s Unlikeliest Heroes - Brock Purdy and Jarrett Stidham are Changing the Way We View Later Round QBs

In what was once dubbed “The Battle of the Bay Area,” the 49ers and Raiders faced off in one of their most exciting matchups in years – each with largely unheard-of quarterbacks

Photo byveracityreport.org

By Kurt Dillon

This past Sunday afternoon, NFL fans were treated to what turned out to be an epic battle of relatively unknown quarterbacks as these two well-storied franchises, who used to be cross-town bay area rivals, clashed in what turned out to be the best match the two have had together in years.

Most of you know that an early season injury to 49er QB Trey Lance, and a more recent injury to Jimmy Garoppolo, forced the Niners into starting little-known 3rd string QB Brock Purdy, who has been nothing less than sensational since he stepped onto the scene in San Fran.

More recently, however, in a shocking and not-expected move, the Las Vegas Raiders brass decided that it was in their interest to bench long-time starting QB Derek Carr and devote the team's final two games to seeing what, if anything, a relatively unknown youngster named Jarrett Stidham had to offer.

What’s more, Stidham’s first NFL start for the Raiders was set to take place at home, against the team that used to be their cross-town NFC nemesis when the Raiders resided in Oakland – who were also starting a previously unheralded young quarterback in Brock Purdy.

Even though the game had profound stakes as the Niners are still fighting for the top seed in the NFC playoffs, and Las Vegas had still not been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, despite the odds of them making it were long, this matchup sounds like a set up for an epic snooze-fest doesn’t it?

Instead, what the fans of these two teams – and every NFL fan that watched – got instead was a classic and hungry battle between two teams with a lot of history and a lot on the line that to everyone’s surprise ended with a game-winning field goal in overtime.

That’s right, this game had it all – brutal hits, lots of defense, lots of offense, interceptions, stupendously acrobatic catches, gritty and hard-fought runs up the gut, missed kicks, and so much more.

It didn’t matter one bit that the 49ers were 11-4 and already assured a spot in the playoffs, or that the Raiders were 6-9 with their postseason lives hanging by a thread. Both teams played like it was the Super Bowl much to the delight of the fans in Las Vegas who were in attendance, as well as more than a few at home who were screaming at their TVs for a little more than three hours, we’re sure.

In the end, though San Francisco’s Kicker Robbie Gould missed a chip-shot field goal at the end of regulation that would have won the game for the Niners and prevented overtime, the veteran kicker was able to redeem himself in overtime after a Stidham interception and a few well-designed offensive plays, put him back into position to be the savior in OT.

But while the game itself, especially its conclusion, was riveting, to say the least, the real story here is the tale of these two young quarterbacks.

Purdy, the 23-year-old from Gilbert, Arizona, played his college ball at Iowa State and was drafted by San Francisco in the 7th round (262 overall) of the 2022 draft. Since then, he’s now won all four games he’s started in his pro career and going 99 / 150 for 1196 yards while tossing 10 TD passes against only 4 picks to go along with that 66% completion percentage.

Of course, after only four games, it’s not time to nominate him for Cooperstown just yet. Still, there is no doubt in this reporter’s mind that if he continues on this pace, and takes the 49ers even mid-way into the playoffs, the top brass in San Fran is going to have no choice but to consider him their future and permanent QB, possibly moving on from both Jimmy G. (which is expected anyway), as well as Trey Lance, moving forward.

While the story of Brock Purdy is incredible in its own right, the story of Jarrett Stidham is even wilder – if that is possible.

Unlike Purdy, Stidham isn’t a rookie. The 26-year-old QB from Corbin, Kentucky, played his college ball at Auburn after transferring from Baylor before being drafted in the 4th round (133rd overall) of the 2019 draft by the New England Patriots before being traded to the Raiders early in 2022.

Stidham’s story isn’t particularly wild because of his lineage or history as a football player, though. The real story with the Raiders' new signal caller is that in the very first game he’s ever started in the NFL, he went up against what is arguably the NFL’s most stingy defense, lighting up the 49ers’ secondary going 23 for 34 for 365 yards, with 3 TDs and 2 INTs, both of which were tipped and deflected into the hands of a defender, not misthrows by Stidham.

The young quarterback racked up a 108.1 QB rating while starting his first ever NFL game and torched the Niners D, dragging them into overtime in a game that most ‘experts’ believed would be a blowout in favor of the Niners.

In the end, Stidham’s Raiders lost, 37 to 34, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying, and the herculean effort wasn’t lost on NFL fans as they spoke out on Twitter:

When all is said and done, the rise of these two completely unheralded young quarterbacks, and especially taking over the reins of two highly storied franchises in the middle of an 11th-hour playoff push, should have the rest of the NFL taking a much closer look at who is carrying the clipboard, riding the bench, or languishing on the practice squad.

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