As far as first full seasons as a starting quarterback go, Brock Purdy's could hardly have gone any better.

Of course, he would have liked a better ending than the San Francisco 49ers' Super Bowl 58 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the Niners could not have asked for much more from the final pick in the 2022 draft, especially after he entered the 2023 season on the back of offseason elbow surgery.

Purdy broke the franchise record for single-season passing yardage and led the NFL in touchdown percentage, passer rating, QBR and every yards per attempt metric. On top of that, Purdy was also the most efficient quarterback in the NFL by DYAR, DVOA and Expected Points Added per play.

Having recovered from shaky starts in each of the Niners' first two playoff games to lead comebacks, Purdy was extremely poised throughout the Super Bowl, with his performance in the spotlight and under heavy pressure from the Kansas City defense receiving great praise from Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

What makes Purdy's success even more impressive is that came in a year in which he did not have the benefit of a full offseason, only returning from elbow surgery in training camp.

And head coach Kyle Shanahan, speaking at the team's end-of-season press conference, indicated his belief that Purdy could be even in better in his third year in the league with the time to correct some weaknesses.

"I thought Brock was unbelievable," Shanahan said of his Super Bowl display. 

"I mean, everyone has plays in a game, every single person that you want to take back. But Brock not turning the ball over in that game, making a number of plays, taking us down there to take the lead earlier on, I mean, at the very end of the game to take us down to take the lead.

"I thought we didn't get it done, so none of us, all of us obviously could have done another thing. But I was real happy with how Brock played and real happy with how he played this year. And I thought Brock was unbelievable. I mean, one of the most impressive seasons I've been around for a football player and a quarterback and he was just a stud through it all.

"Brock, just anything that he's struggled with this year, when we watch cut-ups together he needs time to correct it but those are things he'll figure out that he struggled with because we'll be able to put it all on tape and show him and he'll see it right away and he'll get that done throughout OTAs and have it good by training camp. I mean, that's how he was last year, mentally.

"Some of the things he would see that he struggled with during the year that we couldn't quite correct during the year because Wednesday, Thursday, Friday practices aren't really like that. 

"It's hard to develop some of that muscle memory and things. You're just trying to get through the game plan and get ready for a new defense. But I remember last year when he saw some things and he would just be like, ‘man, now I see it all together. Like I'll be all right when I come back.’ And we didn't know because he was hurt, but by the time he got in training camp he had it solved."

49ers add to coaching staff to address clear problem area

It’s a wise decision.