Brock Purdy and Xavier Hutchinson played together at Iowa State for two seasons. After college, the two were drafted by different teams.
While Purdy has been the San Francisco 49ers’ starting quarterback after getting drafted in 2022, Hutchinson was drafted by the Houston Texans in 2023.
Purdy’s last season was very eventful. He missed half of the year due to shoulder and toe injuries. However, when he started, Purdy steadied the Niners’ ship. He went 7-2 in nine games for the Niners.
The Niners finished third in their division but still qualified due to their superior 12-5 record. In the first knockout game, they defeated the defending champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. Purdy threw two touchdowns, two interceptions, and 262 yards against the Eagles.
The Niners met the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional playoff fixture. They lost 41-6. Purdy completed just 55% of his passes, threw for 140 yards and one interception—his worst performance by some distance. Seattle went on to win the Super Bowl.
Recently, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN released the list of the top 10 NFL quarterbacks heading into the 2026 season. It’s a list Fowler compiled after speaking with various NFL coaches, executives, and scouts. The Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, the Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, and the Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford round out the top three spots. of the list, much to the disdain of the 49ers fan base. Purdy has never been part of the list.
Despite the disappointing development, the 26-year-old signal-caller has received support from his former Cyclones teammate Xavier Hutchinson. The fourth-year Texans WR revealed that Purdy could easily become a top-10 quarterback.
Yeah, I don’t see why not. You have to prove it every single season, every single game, and that’s exactly what he’s done. I’m super excited for him cause I don’t even think this is the best that we’ve seen of him.
Hutchinson said on Good Morning Football
Purdy has completed 67.9% of his passes for 11,685 yards, 84 touchdowns, and 37 interceptions in 49 games with the 49ers. He has a 30-15 regular-season record and a 5-3 postseason record. He played in the 2023-24 Super Bowl, which the 49ers lost to Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Hutchinson has mostly played as WR3 on the Texans team, behind Nico Collins and Tank Dell. In 49 games, Hutchinson has caught 55 total passes for 635 yards and scored three touchdowns.
Hutchinson’s teammate and Texans quarterback, CJ Stroud, failed to make the list as well.
Bleacher Report’sBrad Gagnon released his list of the NFL’s true franchise players for teams to build around before the 2026 season. Gagnon ranked Purdy as the sixth-best player on his list.
Despite being labeled a ‘ by experts and former players, Purdy has several underlying qualities that make him an NFL starter.
Among 270 quarterbacks in NFL history with 1,000 attempts, Purdy is the highest rated with a career rating of 104.0. Has he benefited from an early-career shock factor as well as [Kyle] Shanahan’s system in a stacked offense? Sure, but numbers are numbers and his are fabulous.
Gagnon wrote
Purdy nearly had 70% completion in 2025 and averaged 7.6 yards per throw. According to Pro Football Focus, he was also the league’s highest-rated passer on third down.
Purdy may still be ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ In many books, but he has shown that he can do damage even with limited resources at his disposal.