Brock Purdy’s injury-shortened 2025 season didn’t stop him from grading out as one of the NFL’s most efficient quarterbacks in nearly every situational split, including how he performed both inside and outside the pocket.
A chart from analytics account Nutshell Sports, built on nflfastR and FTN data, plotted every qualifying quarterback’s Expected Points Added (EPA) per play inside the pocket against EPA per play outside the pocket for the 2025 regular season. The San Francisco 49ers star quarterback landed in the “Elite Everywhere” quadrant, reserved for passers who graded above the league median in both situations. In this case, it was Purdy, Jordan Love and 2025 MVP Matthew Stafford.
It should be noted that Mac Jones, who started eight games in relief of Purdy and played admirably in his own right, was in the same quadrant. However, Jones was closer to league average inside the pocket, in the same range as Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones.
Purdy made his 2025 season count across just nine starts, completing 69.4% of his passes for 2,167 yards, 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Pro Football Focus ranked him the NFL’s 10th-best quarterback entering 2026, with an 85.4 overall grade that ranked sixth among all passers and a 65.8 passing grade under pressure that ranked third leaguewide.
Purdy’s ability to protect the football when the pocket collapsed stood out as a defining trait. He posted the league’s best pressure-to-sack rate at 9.0%, a mark that reflects his knack for getting the ball out before a pass rush closed in, and he led all quarterbacks in EPA per play on third and fourth down among passers with at least 100 late-down snaps, posting a 0.58 mark.
Those numbers help explain why Purdy shows up as effective on both sides of the pocket splits: he rarely takes negative plays regardless of what the pocket looks like around him, and he consistently made winning throws when San Francisco needed a conversion most.
With the 49ers reaching the Divisional Round despite Purdy missing eight games to injury, the efficiency data offers another data point in the case that his 2025 season was underrated relative to the box score. Heading into a fourth full season as San Francisco’s starter, Purdy’s ability to grade out among the league’s best both inside structure and off schedule gives Kyle Shanahan’s offense a versatile foundation to build around in 2026.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Brock Purdy among NFL’s most efficient QBs in and out of pocket
Reporting by Oliver G., Niners Wire / Niners Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Oliver G., Niners Wire | USA TODAY Network
