When Brock Purdy was thrust into the starting quarterback position for the San Francisco 49ers last year, the rookie was a completely unknown prospect. Though John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan liked what they had seen from him in practice, no one knew just how well he'd do.

Purdy has now become the unquestioned starter after going undefeated in all the games he started and finished a season ago. He's only continued to prove himself this year by carrying on the success he briefly showed at the end of 2022. After initially receiving criticism for relying on the talent around him, Purdy is now making off-schedule plays and throws that cannot be just credited to those around him.

Brock Purdy has changed minds of plenty of doubters this year, but many of his teammates say they knew Purdy was “the real deal” after a few games last season. Several mention his poise during the Thursday Night win against the Seattle Seahawks as the game they began to believe in him.

However, Mike Shanahan might have known what Purdy had before everyone else. The Super Bowl-winning coach of the Denver Broncos and dad of coach Kyle Shanahan says he first realized Purdy could succeed back at practice.

According to former 49ers and Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski, Mike Shanahan had faith in Purdy early on. “I talked to Mike Shanahan about [Purdy]. And you know I said, ‘Mike, what is it about him?' He said, ‘Bill, the first practice I laid eyes on him, I saw it in him,'” via 95.7 The Game.

Mike Shanahan is definitely someone who knows about good quarterback play after coaching three different Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Joe Montana, Steve Young and John Elway. That's not to say Purdy is bound for the Hall of Fame but that Mike can clearly recognize a good passer.