49ers GM John Lynch reveals who led the team to select QB Brock Purdy

The San Francisco 49ers struck paydirt in the 2022 NFL Draft when they took quarterback Brock Purdy with the last pick, as the Iowa State product has developed into a top-tier signal-caller in the league.

Purdy’s emergence has finally resolved the 49ers quarterback controversy that has been a headline since head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch joined the organization back in 2017.

However, it wasn’t those two that ultimately found and pounded the table for Purdy; instead, general manager John Lynch revealed that two others in the organization deserve the credit for the pick: Pro scout Steve Slowik and quarterbacks coach Brian Griese.

“I think two people deserve so much credit for Brock Purdy, and one of them is now in our pro department. He’s a guy by the name of Steve Slowik,” Lynch said when talking about the Purdy selection. “His brother’s Bobby Slowik, the offensive coordinator down there in Houston. But Steve was the college scout that would go through Iowa State.”

Slowik was a big proponent for Purdy during the team’s draft meetings, pointing not only to his play, but also his character.

“We thought Brock might come out into the league the year before,” Lynch said. “We had high grades on him, actually a little higher during his junior year than his senior year, but Steve was a guy who had the benefit of going into that school and hearing Matt Campbell, who did such a great job turning that program around, and Steve would always come during these draft meetings, in the fall meetings, and just speak so glowingly about Brock and the culture changer he was, how Iowa State would not be where they’re at without Brock Purdy.”

“And Steve was seeing it with his own eyes, but he was also telling us what Matt Campbell was saying. There’s good recommenders, and Matt had always proven to be a really good recommender. When he believed in a guy, it usually translated. And so Steve was very integral in that process.”

Additionally, Lynch credited quarterbacks coach Brian Griese with putting Brock Purdy on the 49ers radar before the team ultimately selected him with the No. 262 overall pick.

“The other guy I’d say was Brian Griese,” Lynch said. “Brian was incredibly impressed once we kind of gave [Brock] to him and said, ‘Hey, get on these Zooms, start talking to Brock.’ And Griese came back extremely convicted. And then it’s in Kyle’s hands, it’s in my hands, and we start watching.

“And we were so smart, we waited until the very last pick to draft him, and thank God he was there. He’s been tremendous for our organization, and you really could see it right away.”

Purdy initially beat out Nate Sudfeld in training camp during his rookie season before going on an impressive run to end the year in 2022 after quarterbacks Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo got injured, helping lead San Francisco to the NFC Championship Game with seven straight wins.

The rest is history, as Purdy cemented himself as one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL this past season, and will look to avenge the team’s Super Bowl loss in 2024 as the 49ers hope to make another deep playoff run.