Brock Purdy has been the subject of plenty of talking points throughout the NFL season, and that’s only grown during Super Bowl week as he and the San Francisco 49ers are ready to take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Former Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule added to the narrative this time with praise for San Francisco’s signal-caller.
Matt Rhule Claims He Wanted To Draft Brock Purdy
Purdy has been plenty productive throughout the 2023 season, his first full year as the 49ers’ starter, throwing for 4,280 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in 16 regular-season starts before helping lead them to two playoff wins.
The second-year quarterback was praised earlier this week by Rhule, who coached Baylor during Purdy’s time at Iowa State.
Rhule, who is now Nebraska’s head coach, said he was high on Purdy going into the 2022 NFL Draft as well when he was the Carolina Panthers head coach but that others in the front office vetoed his idea of having Purdy on the team’s draft board.
“I think Brock Purdy’s an amazing player because I played against him at Iowa State,” Rhule told reporters on Wednesday. “When I was in the draft room in Carolina, I brought his name up. I said, ‘Hey guys, he should be on the draft board.’ I got vetoed on that one.”
Carolina did take a quarterback in the draft, however, as it selected Matt Corral in the third round. It also selected former Baylor cornerback Kalon Barnes in the seventh round, a player whom Rhule had coached during his time at Baylor.
Rhule’s comments were met with quite a bit of speculation on social media, particularly X (formerly known as Twitter), as many fans brought up Rhule’s purported heavy control over the franchise’s draft process.
One commenter called out the fact that Carolina selected long snapper Thomas Fletcher back in the sixth round of the 2021 draft with Rhule in charge, perhaps asserting he has a poor draft philosophy. Fletcher never played a game for Carolina before he was waived in August 2022.
“Matt Rhule also had a long snapper on his draft board and drafted him…..,” the commenter said.
Matt Rhule also had a long snapper on his draft board and drafted him……….
— Mark D Aaronson (@mark_a_a_ronson) February 8, 2024
Plenty of commenters expressed skepticism with Rhule’s comments, though NFL reporter Benjamin Allbright made a post to X backing up the assertion.
“I happen to know this story is true as it was relayed privately before Purdy ever played a down,” Allbright tweeted.
Allbright’s two cents did not prevent others from chiming in and making jokes about the believability of Rhule’s comments, however.
Another commenter compared Rhule and NBA star LeBron James, who has been called out for claiming to have known certain events were going to happen ahead of time. One of James’ claims was that he predicted Kobe Bryant was going to score at least 70 points the night of his famous 81-point game.
"When I was in the draft room at Carolina, I brought his name up. I said he should be on the draft board. I got vetoed on that one." https://t.co/huLpdBnu2Q pic.twitter.com/17Soh2nLOx
— Training Arc Kiki Mendoza (@SugsFromHOU) February 8, 2024
One thing is for certain — Rhule’s comments made for plenty of social media fun ahead of Super Bowl 58. Time will tell whether Purdy’s 49ers or Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs are ultimately able to prevail in the contest.
MORE: Louis Riddick Explains Why Purdy Is One of the Best Quarterbacks in the NFL
As the 2023 NFL season comes to a close, the 2024 NFL Draft is on the horizon. Pro Football Network has you covered with everything from team draft needs to the Top 100 prospects available. Plus, fire up PFN’s Mock Draft Simulator to put yourself in the general manager’s seat and make all the calls!