Hall of Famer gushes about 49ers QB Brock Purdy

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy likely won't earn Most Valuable Player honors for this season, but he nevertheless has a big fan in Hall of Famer and franchise legend Steve Young. 

"You have to be great at it in this league, but he is, like, elite," Young said about Purdy during an appearance on the KNBR "Tolbert and Copes" program, per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone. "And that ball is out, and it's out early. ... The job of quarterback, the job of getting in the huddle, calling the play and then running the play, getting the most out of that play, figuring out how to get the ball out of your hands and make a gain, and to be nine-of-10, or 18-of-20, and all of a sudden that just opens up so much more of the offense."

Purdy guided the 12-4 49ers to the NFC's No. 1 seed for the playoffs and, according to ESPN stats, enters Week 18 leading the NFL among qualified players with a 72.7 adjusted QBR, a 113.0 passer rating and an average of 9.6 yards per pass attempt on the campaign. He's second with 31 passing touchdowns, second with 4,280 passing yards and third with a 69.4% completion percentage. 

Former Carolina Panthers star and one-time NFL MVP Cam Newton sparked some controversy earlier in the season when he referred to Purdy and others as "game managers." Newton added at that time that Baltimore Ravens starter Lamar Jackson, Kansas City Chiefs signal-caller Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills were among his "game-changing" quarterbacks. 

"And I've always said, for Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, or those guys that have all these incredible Superman capabilities, the job that they really need to focus on is the job that we're talking about what Brock is thriving at," Young explained.

As of Thursday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Jackson as the overwhelming betting favorite at -20000 odds to win MVP. To compare, Purdy was third at +3000 odds at that same time. 

Purdy could make quite a statement regarding an award he probably won't win by emerging as the top quarterback of the upcoming postseason tournament.