Is Purdy an elite NFL QB? 49ers coach Shanahan ‘hates' conversation

Is Purdy an elite NFL QB? 49ers coach Shanahan ‘hates' conversation originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Is Brock Purdy an elite NFL quarterback? Is he good enough to lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl title?

The debate has been raging amongst national NFL pundits since Purdy's emergence last season, and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan wants nothing to do with the conversation.

Purdy's status as an elite quarterback was brought up by The Athletic's Tim Kawakami during Shanahan's press conference after the 49ers' 31-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night at Lumen Field.

"I'm definitely not going to say the wrong word," Shanahan said when asked if Purdy is an elite quarterback. "Not your question, but the talk of that stuff is so ridiculous, the words elite, Super Bowl quarterback, I mean, and this is the NFL, you got to have a really good football team to even talk about having a chance to get there. And when you have a really good football team, you better have a really good quarterback and when you do that, you still better have luck with injuries.

"You still got to play good defense, you got to do everything. So like there's also been a lot of great quarterbacks who haven't won Super Bowls and the ones who do, you don't win them on their own. They got to be on a good team and they got to have defenses, and there's so many things that go into it. So I always kind of hate that conversation."

Purdy, the reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week, continued his strong play in the 49ers' win over the Seahawks, completing 21 of 30 passes for 209 yards while throwing one touchdown pass and one interception, which was returned for a touchdown.

But most importantly for the 49ers, Purdy keeps winning games, as he improved to 13-3 in the regular season since taking over in Week 14 last season. And he entered Thursday night's game with an NFL-best 115.1 quarterback rating.

National pundits like Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe and Nick Wright, among others, still aren't sold on Purdy as an elite NFL quarterback, preferring to give credit to all the star power surrounding him.

But Shanahan knows that in order for players like Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk to thrive in his system, he needs a quarterback who can flawlessly orchestrate his offense and put the football in the right spots for those skill-position players to be effective.

As much as Shanahan wants the conversation to die, Purdy simply can put it to rest himself by continuing to play well and win games. That's the best way to quiet critics.

Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast