As the San Francisco 49ers' offense has ran roughshod over the rest of the NFL in a spectacular season, there have naturally been comparisons made between their attack and that of the 2016 Atlanta Falcons team that went agonizingly close to Super Bowl glory with Kyle Shanahan as its offensive coordinator.

Heading into Week 15, the 49ers are third in points and second in yards. They are first in Expected Points Added per play and DVOA on offense. 

Back in 2016, Shanahan orchestrated an unstoppable Falcons attack that was first in points and second in yards as Matt Ryan took a huge leap in his second year in the system, winning the MVP after throwing for 4,944 yards with 38 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. He led the NFL in touchdown percentage, passer rating, QBR and every yards per attempt metric.

Niners quarterback Brock Purdy has taken markedly similar strides in his second year in the offense. The betting favorite for MVP, per betonline.ag, Purdy leads the league in completion percentage, touchdown percentage, passer rating and QBR along with every measure of yards per attempt. 

Additionally, he is first in efficiency metrics DVOA, DYAR and EPA per play, leading many to draw parallels between his performances and the greatest season produced by a quarterback coordinated by Shanahan seven years ago.

Save for both players improving with more time in the offense, Shanahan doesn't see many similarities between the two, and the contrasts he drew should serve to terrify the rest of the NFL.

Asked if Purdy and Ryan were similar in what they can do with their understanding of the offense, Shanahan replied: 

"Yeah, everybody gets better with reps. Matt was a lot more comfortable the second year definitely than the first year. But, I think one thing that was harder for Matt is that I think I got there his eighth year and he had played for like six different coordinators. So there’s a lot more football in his head. So you go through stuff and Brock was a pretty clean slate. Brock was always just doing the offense and learning and reacting and playing like he’s always played. It’s different when you do a lot more schemes before you get with someone."

Purdy is exactly what Shanahan needed

His response is clearly no criticism of Ryan, but rather an articulate illustration of why Purdy has acclimatised so quickly to the Shanahan offense and with such spectacular results in his first full season as a starter.

As Shanahan intimated, Ryan was already well-established as an NFL quarterback and essentially had to undo some of what he had previously learned before he could make the massive strides he took in 2016.

After being drafted last year, Purdy had the benefit of being to immerse himself in the offense from his first day in the building with no knowledge of any other pro schemes clouding his ability to quickly develop an understanding of the system. Though he spent most of his rookie season as a backup, Purdy was not hindered by a lack of experience having started 48 games in college, with that seasoning a key reason why he was able to hit the ground running when thrown into the fire in Week 13.

In essence, when the 49ers took a well-educated flier on Purdy with the final pick in last year's draft, they were unknowingly giving Shanahan exactly what he has always wanted and needed for his San Francisco offense, a young quarterback whom he could train to do exactly what is required to execute the scheme to a high level but also blessed with the processing ability and playmaking upside to elevate the attack to even greater heights.

Scary room to grow

The 49ers hoped they were getting that with Trey Lance in 2021, but the reality was the third overall pick hadn't gone through the necessary growing pains on the field in college and, though injury robbed him of his opportunity in 2022, this year's preseason proved the processing ability was just not up to standard.

Purdy is a better processor than both Lance and predecessor Jimmy Garoppolo. He has the quick release that is a must for the short to intermediate game but has also displayed a desire to attack downfield and an ability to make plays out of structure that was never consistently there with Garoppolo. Purdy's passer rating on throws of 21 air yards or more of 143.2 is the best in the NFL.

Having entered with a "clean slate", Purdy could end his first full season playing in the Shanahan scheme with the league's top individual honor. 

Logic would suggest that, as he gains even more experience in the system and learns from Shanahan and the coaching staff in the film room, there is scope for Purdy to play at an even higher level. 

For defenses that already have no answer to this buzzsaw of an offense, the idea that Purdy still has potential to be harnessed by the NFL's pre-eminent offensive mind should be an extremely scary one.

49ers’ Kyle Juszczyk nominated for prestigious award for fourth straight year

Recognition for how he plays the game.