The San Francisco 49ers saw some clear holes on the offensive side of the ball late in the year in 2025, so general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan put forth a concerted effort to improve that aspect of the roster.
With that, the 49ers brought in veterans like Mike Evans and Christian Kirk in free agency and added De’Zhaun Stribling, Kaelon Black and Carver Willis in the draft.
All of these moves should make life a bit easier for Brock Purdy this year, and knowing that, ESPN’s Seth Walder has listed the 26-year-old quarterback as an MVP candidate in 2026.
“You can’t argue with Purdy’s numbers when he has been on the field,” Walder wrote. “His 69.7 QBR over the past four seasons ranks second behind only Josh Allen.
“The Kyle Shanahan offense might be a hindrance to Purdy getting MVP votes, but one could make the same argument against Stafford with Sean McVay or Caleb Williams (the other QB I considered here) with Ben Johnson. And it didn’t seem to hold the Rams QB back in last season’s vote.”
If Purdy can rely on Evans, Kirk and Stribling to step up and replace the production lost by both Brandon Aiyuk (two years ago) and Jauan Jennings (last year), he could definitely take that next step to All-Pro and MVP candidate.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers star named MVP candidate for 2026 season
Reporting by Mike Masala, Niners Wire / Niners Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
