Padecky: Brock Purdy deserves a long look to be 49ers’ starting QB

Time waits for no man, especially if he plays quarterback in the National Football League. Still, the Yahoo! Sports headline Sunday screamed how quickly things changed: “Dolphins Lose To Brock Purdy’s 49ers.”

Which, you might guess, is light years away from “Joe Montana’s 49ers.”

Holy catfish, Jimmy Garoppolo and his fractured right ankle were still on their way to the hospital when it was time to forget, discard or otherwise hit the delete key on someone who was supposed to save the 49ers this season after the original savior, Trey Lance, was lost to injury. Jimmy Gee Whiz He Gets Injured A Lot is now gone so that means Purdy, the backup, is the new anointed one. Or as coach Kyle Shanahan would put it another vexing way: The backup to the backup is now our quarterback.

This means the 49ers are one broken ankle away from claiming this is “Jacob Eason’s 49ers.” Jacob is the new backup and there’s nothing so temporary this season as calling someone “the 49er backup quarterback.”

Jacob is now in his 21st day as a 49er (signed to the practice squad November 15) and forgive Eason if thinks the 49ers play in San Francisco.

Eason can get some advice on what it’s like to be a backup from HIS backup, Josh Johnson, who was signed Sunday. Johnson is 36 years old and has an NFL record no one can match and, frankly, no one would want to. Johnson has played for more NFL teams than anyone in league history: 13. This is his fifth time with the 49ers.

What does this mean: Johnson has one heck of a personality. His NFL career is a connect-the-dots puzzle and typically it wouldn’t rate more than a few words. But certainty is not a word one would apply to know who’s taking the snaps for this team.

This might be unsettling except for two things: San Francisco’s defense suffocates offenses AND Brock Purdy can play. He’s more than a warm body. The 49ers don’t beat Miami Sunday without Brock Purdy - and there’s a sentence I’d never thought I’d write a week ago.

Purdy was the last player taken in last year’s draft, earning him the dubious title of Mr. Irrelevant. So here’s another sentence I’d never thought I’d write: Purdy is the first Mister Irrelevant to throw a pass in NFL history. This was quickly followed by the first Mister Irrelevant to throw a touchdown pass in the NFL, followed still by another touchdown toss.

For a 22-year-old thrown into the deep end, Purdy should have shown why he was the 262nd player taken in the draft. Ok, ok, there was the time Purdy scrambled in the pocket and, turning to escape, ran straight into a Dolphin defender, the easiest sack in the history of the NFL.

Purdy otherwise was not a desperate excuse for a professional quarterback. He made good decisions about when to target or throw away. While he wasn’t Lamar Jackson darting and evading, Purdy wasn’t a lumbering oaf easy to catch. He didn’t have the arm cannon of Buffalo’s Josh Allen, Purdy made all the throws required of his position, including the necessary crisp 25-yard sideline pass.

Purdy wasn’t asked to play safe and not lose the game. He couldn’t. Miami is one of the better teams in the league. He had to play aggressively and he did. He didn’t fluster. He showed no signs of panic. His game numbers - 25 completions in 37 attempts, 210 yards, two touchdowns and one interception - would have been Garappolo’s numbers if he had played. And the 49ers would have taken that without complaint.

For a rookie fresh off the farm, Purdy was an unqualified success. To be fair the Dolphins knew nothing about him. Purdy had that advantage. Next week’s opponent, Tampa Bay, will study Purdy’s every nuanced tick and burp. If Purdy performs against the Bucs as he did against the Dolphins, the 49ers can relax. The team has its quarterback, not a fill-in until something better comes along.

Which may be Baker Mayfield, if the tongue waggers have their way. The Carolina Panthers released the former Heisman Trophy winner Monday. So the rumors began. Mayfield is available! He’s not a kid! He’s a veteran! How could the 49ers pass this up!

Easy. Stay away. A 4-8 team just let him go. Mayfield is a bust. He’s unsteady as a marble rolling around the deck of a ship in rough seas. The 49ers need stability at the position. Mayfield doesn’t have the physical equipment or the temperament to provide that.

Stick Mayfield on the practice squad is as large a commitment the 49ers should make on the guy. Only if Purdy and Eason and Johnson all decide to take up Pickleball should Mayfield make the field.

The 49ers have a Super Bowl defense. They don’t need Montana or Steve Young or Jeff Garcia behind center. The defense took Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and turned him into a nervous wreck. They hounded Tagovailoa like a barking dog and the quarterback panicked. He overthrew receivers. He had happy feet. For the first time this season, Tagovailoa displayed none of the confidence and surety a quarterback needs to excel in a big game.

Surprisingly Tagovailoa reacted to the pressure that was expected of Purdy. He may look like a high school senior with his boyish looks. He was thrust cold into the 49ers’ biggest game to date of the season and he didn’t swallow his tongue and line behind the left guard to take the center snap.

Yes, by the end of the game, these were Brock Purdy’s 49ers. Garoppolo had played his last snap for San Francisco and now, once again, the guessing game will begin. Where will Jimmy and his abused skeleton play next season? A lot of places. The risk will be there for the guy has injured everything except maybe the ring finger on his left hand.

No matter. The 49ers are chasing a Super Bowl. True sentiment will have to wait. The players loved playing for Garoppolo but the Get Well cards will be sent another day. Their love now switches to Purdy, and if that sounds fickle and shallow, it is. This is just business. It’s nothing personal.

The 49ers may not know what Purdy has for dinner, what movies he prefers or even his age. If he makes them a winner, they love him. All the while knowing things can change. It’s Brock Purdy today but tomorrow it can be Jacob Eason or Josh Johnson or the Easter Bunny. Life, like a play just about to be called at the line of scrimmage, might need an audible. The 49ers are becoming quite adept at handling that, as they now throw their fortunes and affections behind the backup of the backup.

To comment write to bobpadecky@gmail.com.