When I watch the 49ers, I simultaneously understand the Purdy hype and the Purdy criticism. He plays with excellent—arguably elite — poise, timing, and rhythm within the structure of the Shanahan offense, with an accurate arm that is sufficient to make those throws, but I can’t help but notice how WIDE ASS OPEN the receivers are most of the time. It’s a testament to the ability of their pass-catchers to create space, get open, and the designed scheme within. It’s going to be a legitimate challenge for us this week and going forward for years to come. However, it makes me internally dock points off of his ability as a quarterback, despite him clearly being the best quarterback they’ve had in years.

It’s the same vibe I get from Tua: great when everything in the first two seconds goes according to the play-design, but after that, it’s a toss-up with what you get. And then the massive mistakes happen. Schrödinger’s quarterback. I can’t help but think that the guy is just throwing to spots without understanding what he’s actually looking at just yet. It’s like playing a guy in a video game who dominates by button-mashing vs. someone who uses an actual thought-out strategy. It seems eerily similar to early career Jared Goff, where Sean McVay would basically tell him what the defense is and where the ball is supposed to go before the mic gets cut off prior to 15 seconds on the play-clock. No thinking; just elite traits throwing to a particular designed spot.

The Niners fans in this space often refuse to acknowledge there’s legitimate criticism to be made about the guy’s play.

Make no mistake: He’s not entirely a system quarterback. The dude is probably going to handle the Philly environment better than most. But the severe flaws are masked in a synergistic fashion that I’m hoping Desai can find a way to disrupt this week.