49ers quarterback Brock Purdy makes NFL history, breaks Lamar Jackson’s passing record: Here’s a look at the record and Purdy’s unexpected career

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy made NFL history on Monday, October 19. During the 49ers’ Week 7 match with the Washington Commanders, Purdy surpassed 1,500 passes. With a six yard pass to Christian Mc Caffery he got his 1,500th pass attempt, qualifying him for the NFL’s all-time career passer rating leaderboard. He has now become the all-time leader in passes, breaking Lamar Jackson’s record.

Purdy is not the No. 1 all time in passer rating at 105.4, while Jackson has a passer rating of 102.7 in his career. Heading into Week 7 Purday had completed 68%, with 1,017 of 1,495 of his passes for 12,881 yards with 97 touchdowns and 39 interceptions.

Upon being asked about his stats on Friday, Purday replied, “To be honest, I don’t really know”. He then asked, “All right, was my rating at least 100 and something?” “If I could answer that again, I would say obviously it goes more into I’ve got great coaches, a great team, dudes that help me be who I am and I’m just grateful I get to be the quarterback for the 49ers”.

Purdy’s career has been unexpected

Purdy, who was formerly a quarterback for Iowa State, was the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, with no one anticipating his success. He was the 262nd pick that season, but has quickly become one of the best, performing better each year. His first opportunity came when both quarterbacks for the 49ers faced injuries, prompting them to turn to him. He won his first five regular-season starts, and helped the 49ers finish the season with a 10-match winning streak.

Only in his second NFL season, Purdy led the 49ers to an appearance in the Super Bowl but he is still after his first-ever Super Bowl. He completed 69.4% of his passes for 4,280 yards and 31 touchdowns in the 2023 season. Purdy has had help from players like George Kittle and Christian McCaffreyin becoming one of the most efficient NFL quarterbacks.

Purdy’s record was almost certain before he entered the game on Monday night with the rating of 105.4 through 1,495 pass attempts. The record was cemented by the fact that even if all of Purdy’s passes were intercepted during the game, he would still have a rating of about 103.7, still remaining above Lamar Jackson’s.

The quarterback is thriving this season

Purdy has been having a great season so far. He has had 13 touchdowns with only two interceptions and three sacks, even though the 49ers have lost five of their receivers to injuries since the training camp began. The 26-year-old quarterback is not chasing an MVP and other accolades.

What is the NFL's Passer rating?

The NFL introduced its passer rating in 1973. The system was introduced to streamline the measuring of quarterback passing effectiveness. The formula for the rating is based on four kinds of statistics, these include completion percentage, passing yards per attempt, touchdown percentage and interception percentage. All four of these categories are combined to produce a result ranging from 0 to 158.3. The passer rating is different from ESPN’s Total Quarterback Rating and measures the players’ performance differently.

Purdy has joined the top five on the passer ratings, with Lamar Jackson behind him. On the third place is Aaron Rodgers with a 101.8 rating, following whom are Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes at 4th and 5th with passer ratings of 101.3 and 100.8 respectively.