Quarterback Brock Purdy is entering the fifth season of his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers, and once again, he is drawing comparisons to Hall of Famer Drew Brees. From their physical stature and underdog status at the college level to being overlooked in the NFL Draft, Purdy and Brees share several parallels. Now, during a conversation with former NFL head coach Jason Garrett, Purdy addressed those comparisons while also reflecting on his draft fall to No. 262 overall in 2022.

“I think we do have similar paths in terms of we’re competitors. We always found a way to win, and we didn’t go to big schools or anything,” Purdy told Garrett. “I went to Iowa State, he went to Purdue, but at the end of the day, I feel like we’ve both been able to find ways to elevate guys around us in our play and their play. And we find ways to win.

“Like, I love quarterbacks who are tough, and they can go through and play through tough things and situations, environments, physical pain, and you still find a way to win. I feel like Drew and I both did that in college, and I’m not sure why I went all the way down to 262 exactly, but at the end of the day, once I got an opportunity, I was just excited to go show the world, you know, what was going to happen.”

Brock Purdy stands at 6’1″ and weighs 220 pounds. Brees, meanwhile, is 6’0″ and weighed 209 pounds during his NFL career. Both spent four-years in college, with Purdy leading Iowa State and Brees running Purdue’s offense. But when draft week arrived, neither was viewed as a top draft prospect.

While Brees was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft, Purdy fell to the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, where the 49ers selected him. However, while both quarterbacks are known for not having the strongest arms, they are also known for their ball-placement accuracy. Purdy, meanwhile, believes that his ability to make the players around him better is what makes him similar to the Hall of Famer.

And that became evident when Brees’ former wide receiver Willie Snead compared Purdy to Brees for the first time.

“He just reminds me of these little things about Drew,” Snead told back in 2024. “Drew never had the strongest arm, but he was so pinpoint accurate. He knew when to let the ball go to make sure you’re catching it in stride, and Brock has similar traits. He doesn’t have the strongest arm, but he can anticipate guys getting open.”

In his first two seasons while playing for the New Orleans Saints, Snead caught 141 passes for 1,879 yards and seven touchdowns from Brees. Purdy, meanwhile, plays in an extremely well-designed 49ers offense with elite players. The list includes Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and now Mike Evans.

But once the comparisons between him and Brees gained traction, the Hall of Famer addressed them immediately and pointed out the parallels between the two.

“The thing that I love about him the most is the fact that he was a guy who went to Iowa State and not highly recruited, he started 47 games in college,” Brees said in 2024 about Purdy. “Similar to Purdue, most of the time when we were stepping on the field during our college days, we were the underdog. We weren’t winning the beauty pageant.

“We were going to have to scratch and crawl and find ways to win those games, so we were in a ton of competitive situations. Look, that molds you. That wires you in a lot of ways, and I think it helps prepare you certainly for when you get into the NFL and the line between winning and losing is so fine.”

That said, Brock Purdy is heading into the 2026 season after a down year, considering his injury-marred 2025 campaign. But with a stacked receiving corps and the latest addition of Mike Evans, it remains to be seen whether the quarterback can bring himself back into the spotlight this year.