As Brock Purdy has continued to reach new heights in his improbable rise from last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft to franchise quarterback of a perennial Super Bowl contender, a feature of his game that has become increasingly prominent is his ability to make plays with his legs.

It was critical to the pair of playoff comebacks the 49ers pulled off to reach last season's Super Bowl. This year, as their offense has been forced to alter its approach somewhat with several stars missing games through injury and teams changing how they defend San Francisco, Purdy's prowess for extending plays and operating on the move has increased in prevalence.

The Los Angeles Rams' plan to regularly defend the 49er passing game with three-man rushes and drop-eight coverage led to several plays that could have been set to the Benny Hill theme in Week 3, Purdy using his proclivity for evasive action and his underrated athleticism to consistently escape the clutches of Rams defenders while searching for an open man downfield.

Sunday's Week 4 matchup with the New England Patriots was less comedic in that regard as the 49ers dominated throughout, but Purdy still demonstrated his athletic gifts, picking up two first downs with his legs on third down on the first offensive series and then escaping the pocket to connect with tight end George Kittle on third down.

In part because of the willingness to attack the Patriots with deep shots and in part because of his ability to extend plays, Purdy led the NFL in time to throw in Week 4 going into the two Monday Night Football games. Per NextGen Stats, Purdy averaged 3.47 seconds from snap to release.

As a runner, Purdy has eight first downs and a success rate of 61.1 percent this season. Asked about his seemingly increased prominence as a scrambler, Purdy told his postgame press conference after the win over the Patriots: 

"I'm not dropping back thinking, alright, ‘I'm going to act like I'm going to throw and then just run and try to make a play.’ It's not like that. I'm a quarterback. I'm trying to go through my reads and hit my guys and move the chains that way, and that's the position that I play, and I take pride in that. And so, when something's not there and teams drop eight and they're rushing three and last week we saw a play where they dropped nine and rushed two. So, for me it's like knowing that, like I'm still going to go through my progression, try to hit my guys in windows when I can, but if not, then I feel like I have just the right amount of athleticism to move and make plays. I don't need to be a freak athlete and all that kind of stuff. I know who I am, but if something presents itself then I'm willing to do what it takes for our team to move the chains and use my legs."

Purdy was then pressed to clarify what he meant by the 'right amount of athleticism'.

He replied: "I think my 10-yard split, just to give you guys some perspective, it was faster than Christian’s [RB Christian McCaffrey] and Deebo [Samuel], I think. You guys can fact check me, but that's what I mean. 

"I think I just have enough to get out of the pocket and make a play, pick up five, seven yards here and there. So I'm not [Baltimore Ravens QB] Lamar Jackson by any means. But anyways, just do what it takes.”

Sadly for Purdy, a look back at the pre-draft data contradicts his claim. Per RAS Football, Purdy ran a very impressive 10-yard split of 1.61 seconds, but that trailed both McCaffrey (1.55) and Samuel (1.6 flat), albeit not by much.

Still, that does not take away from the fact that Purdy has the short-area speed to confound defenses and make himself an extremely difficult player to corral. With the 49ers boasting an at best inconsistent offensive line, his traits as a scrambler will likely continue to be crucial for San Francisco in 2024.

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