As the debate for the toughest position in football continues, the San Francisco 49ers‘ new cornerback, Jack Jones, has shared his argument while taking a shot at quarterback Brock Purdy. However, after joining the 49ers, the veteran corner has certainly created a stir. Is Brock Purdy a product of Kyle Shanahan’s system, or a true franchise QB? His new teammate, Jack Jones, just publicly picked a side, and it’s not the one fans might expect.

“You can make quarterback easy to play, and I think that was Cam Newton’s argument about Brock Purdy,” Jones said, who recently signed with the 49ers on a one-year deal. “They were making quarterback easy for him to play. You can hand the ball off 20 times to Christian McCaffrey and then dump it off 10 times to Christian McCaffrey and then dump it off 10 more times to George Kittle. Now it’s like ‘Wow, he has these crazy stats, but it’s like he hasn’t done anything. This is no knock on Brock Purdy, I just used him as an example because Cam Newton brought that up.”

Jones believes a signal-caller can perform at the top level if he has a great team around him, and hence made the comparison to his teammate, Brock Purdy, a quarterback often criticized for benefiting from a star-studded offense featuring Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle, who are among the best at their positions.

Since the 2022 season, when Purdy got his first start in the NFL, CMC has recorded 792 carries for 3,609 yards and has scored 48 touchdowns in 48 games as a 49er. Subsequently, Kittle has had 260 catches for 3,519 yards and has scored 32 touchdowns in 57 games since 2022, highlighting how a majority of the workload is taken off the quarterback.

Meanwhile, Brock Purdy, for his part, has recorded 11,685 passing yards for 84 touchdowns and 37 interceptions in 49 games that he has played so far.

Another thing that adds to Jones’ argument is that despite missing Brock Purdy for eight games last year due to a toe injury, the 49ers maintained their dominance in the league. Backup quarterback Mac Jones seamlessly fit into the system and kept the team afloat as he led the franchise to a 5-3 record with 2,151 passing yards for 13 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.

Additionally, this wasn’t the only argument that Jack Jones offered on Brock Purdy. He also referred to Cam Newton’s 2023 comments while making another comparison about ‘Mr. Irrelevant.’

When Cam Newton called Brock Purdy a “game manager”

During his recent appearance on the Caps Off podcast, Jack Jones didn’t hold back on his comments about the quarterback conversation. While making his argument clear, he also recalled Cam Newton’s comments from 2023, when the 2015 MVP referred to Brock Purdy as a ‘game manager’.

However, Mr. Irrelevant wasn’t the only quarterback on the list. Alongside Purdy, he also named several others, like the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott, Tua Tagovailoa (who played for the Miami Dolphins at that time), and Detroit Lions’ Jared Goff.

“They’re not difference-makers,” Newton said. “[They’re being asked] not to lose. I don’t give a damn what you do. You don’t have to score every time. You just don’t have to throw a pick every time, either. If we’re going to call a spade a spade, a game manager is different than a game-changer.”

When Newton made those arguments in 2023, he received significant backlash from Skip Bayless, who acknowledged his career accomplishments but also disagreed with his comments about Brock Purdy.

“This is one of those so far out there, that it makes you go, ‘Huh?'” Bayless said. “Brock Purdy is the complete opposite of a game manager to me. He will try tight-window, crazy cross-body, across-the-field throws where you say, ‘Young man, what are you thinking?’ And he pulls most of them off because it’s in his DNA.”

Jack Jones’ comments have certainly added fuel to the ongoing debate about the toughest position in football and brought back some memories from 2023. By using Brock Purdy as an example, the veteran cornerback echoed Cam Newton’s earlier sentiments that a great team can make the quarterback position look easier than it is. Whether or not fans agree with Jones, his bold take is sure to keep the conversation going as he settles into his new home in San Francisco.