49ers: Inside the Brock Purdy-Brandon Aiyuk relationship

SEATTLE — Being an NFL starting quarterback comes with far more responsibilities than just throwing the football.

The starting quarterback is the offensive coordinator on the field, responsible for clear communication of responsibilities and charged with “canning” the play if the defense’s look isn’t right.

The starting quarterback is also the face of the franchise in press conferences — their time at the dais is as important as the head coach’s.

And, trickiest of all, the starting quarterback is also responsible for the team’s overall temperament. Not only does his attitude and personality set a tone for the offense, but there’s also a lot of psychoanalysis that needs to happen on a week-by-week or sometimes play-by-play basis.

Niners quarterback Brock Purdy has proven exceptional not only in his ability to throw the football — he leads the NFL in completion percentage (70.2), QBR (75.8), and passer rating (112.3) — but in the other responsibilities, too.

And nowhere has Purdy shined more than in his ability to manage the personalities and expectations of his wide receivers.

Specifically, Purdy’s relationship with his best receiver — Brandon Aiyuk — has been critical to the Niners’ offensive success this season.

I think it’s fair to say that many top-flight wide receivers are, in a word, needy. One could also describe them as combustible, peculiar, and ego-driven.

We’ve certainly seen this before in San Francisco. It has been a theme in Buffalo and Las Vegas this season. I’m sure the spirit of Terrell Owens will haunt a few top receivers in the weeks and months to come.

Now, Aiyuk is no diva. The Niners’ top receiver is as low-key as a Barry White harmony.

So it’d be easy for Purdy to take the win, leave Aiyuk to his own devices — he won’t make a fuss, after all — and tend to all the other responsibilities he has.

He’s done the opposite, and the positive results of that decision are undeniable.

Niners players have said for years that Kyle Shanahan’s life goal is to find ways to put the ball in Deebo Samuel’s hands. It’s no secret the do-it-all receiver/running back is the head coach and offensive coordinator’s favorite player.

Running back Christian McCaffrey has proven to be a close second.

So where Aiyuk would be force-fed double-digit targets a game on most teams, his opportunities are limited on the 49ers. Favoritism aside, the Niners are still a run-first team with simply too many talented mouths to feed in the passing game. George Kittle needs the ball, too.

But Purdy has made it a point to consistently tell Aiyuk that his success is inevitable.

The Niners’ quarterback is also happy to play favorites.

“We talked throughout the year and stuff after practices and stuff. We have an opportunity to do something real special here,” Purdy said after the Niners’ 31-13 win over the Seahawks. “I always talk to B.A., ‘Your time is coming, man. I know you’re hungry for it.’

There’s no question that Aiyuk should be getting the ball more. He is third on the team in catches with 45 — good for 35th in the league — despite being the second-best receiver in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus grades.

But instead of complaining, Aiyuk has stayed ready and has won the Niners games in the process.

Thursday against the Seahawks was the perfect encapsulation of the receiver’s season: Aiyuk was only targeted four times, making two catches. One was a big gain for 22 yards. The other, a 28-yard strike, was Purdy’s best throw as a professional and a game-sealing touchdown that will live in the memory of every Niners fan for years to come.

“He does everything right. For me to tell him week after week like, ‘It’s coming, it’s coming,’ then finally we’re seeing it, it feels good just to know that, man, the work that we’ve put in, the trust, the talks, we’re seeing it now,” Purdy said of Aiyuk. “I wish I could have hit him more throughout the game and stuff. When we needed it the most... B.A. did his job. I got him the ball in the right spot — he made the rest happen, getting into the end zone.

“It’s that trust, man, that faith in each other. What we do every single day at practice and stuff, it’s showing on the field. It feels good.”

Aiyuk, in trademark fashion, played it cool when asked about the play:

“That’s what you call a dot.”

Just an absolute SEED from Purdy...was supposed to be a dagger and Aiyuk turned it into the post. Left handed drop too pic.twitter.com/pFx34FFM2S

— Chase Daniel November 24, 2023

But make no mistake about it: the respect is reciprocated from the wide receiver.

Talking to Aiyuk earlier this season, I asked him if there had ever been a play where he was surprised that Purdy threw him the ball.

Clearly there was, because Aiyuk scoffed and told me he lives by a new motto with No. 13 at the helm of the Niners’ offense: “If you’re open, he’s going to find you.”

He’s not kidding. After Thursday’s game Shanahan said the touchdown pass to Aiyuk was supposed to be a check-down to Kittle over the middle of the field.

Indeed, Kittle was wide open on the play.

But Purdy thought Aiyuk was open, too. He just needed to make a perfect throw.

“You know he’s going to slam the ball, throw it, and fit it wherever he can,” Aiyuk said earlier this season. “He’s super confident, and that confidence bleeds into us that we have in him; we’re ready to go.

That’s a significant change from years past, as Aiyuk noted when he was a guest on defensive tackle Arik Armstead’s podcast:

“There will be plays out there where, in the past, we might call this play — you have no chance of getting the football... But when you’re playing with a guy like Purdy, you have an opportunity to get the ball any given play. Even when you run down the field, and for the last three years, [you’ve] been [running] a clear route, just to clear out the defense — someone else is getting the ball — and you look up and the ball is in the air, right there [in front of you].”

“[We’re] Getting ourselves ready so we can go out on Sunday and be better for each other and continue to push each other,” Aiyuk continued. “I think that’s what the best receiver quarterback duos do — they help each other get better. Purdy has for sure done that.”

For Purdy, there’s no secret to how that relationship was built or the success it has produced.

“It’s just reps on reps. Practice,” Purdy said Tuesday. “It started out I think in camp for us when I got back, [I] was studying how B.A. runs, how he breaks in and out. He is different from Deebo, he is different from George... then B.A.’s just got length, man, he’s got range.”

“I have all the confidence in the world in B.A...Throwing with anticipation is huge for me. He understands that. When I let the ball go he gets to where he needs to be and we’ve made it happen.”

Purdy to Aiyuk will never be Montana or Young to Rice. On-field success aside, thank goodness it won’t be Jeff Garcia to T.O.

And while it won’t match the raw output of the league’s top quarterback-receiver duos — Keenan Allen and Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow and Ja’marr Chase, Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill, Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce — the combination of Purdy and Aiyuk could have just as big of an impact this season.

Because while these two don’t connect as often as those duos, great things happen for the Niners when they get together.

“Obviously we have a long ways to go and stuff,” Purdy said Thursday. “It’s going to be game by game, day by day, but I’m really happy for him. He’s a really good receiver. I think he deserves more credit around the league and stuff. But that time will come.”