San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is still earning praise for his unprecedented rookie season. After going from Mr. Irrelevant to leading the San Francisco 49ers to the NFC Championship Game, Purdy understandably made headlines for his Cinderella story.

The latest is ESPN's Stephen A. Smith naming Purdy the second best quarterback in the NFC, with only Philadelphia Eagles star and Super Bowl runner-up Jalen Hurts ranked ahead of Purdy.

Purdy comes in at second after winning every game he started and finished as a rookie before his injury in the NFC Championship game. In the regular season and pos season, he had a combined 16-4 TD-INT ratio and a 108 passer rating. Purdy underwent UCL surgery in March and it's uncertain if he will be back in time for the start of the NFL season.

Smith ranked Jared Goff third, Dak Prescott fourth and Geno Smith fifth behind Purdy. The most notable snubs from his list include veterans Kirk Cousins and Matthew Stafford, who missed eight games due to injury last season.

While it may seem early or unwarranted to name a quarterback with only eight starts as a top-two quarterback in his conference, it is important to note the NFC has a much weaker selection of quarterbacks than the AFC, which features Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow.

With Tom Brady retiring and Rodgers heading to the Jets this offseason, many NFC squads are facing a changing of the guard at quarterback. Severals teams will feature young quarterbacks at the helm, such as the Carolina Panthers with Bryce Young, the Atlanta Falcons with Desmond Ridder, the Chicago Bears with Justin Fields and the Washington Commanders with Sam Howell.

With this in mind and Brock Purdy's stellar rookie season, it may not actually be that shocking to see the 49ers star ranked second among in-conference signal-callers.