SANTA CLARA — Caleb Williams arrived in Chicago with the weight of being the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick in 2024 on his shoulders. Brock Purdy came to the 49ers as the last pick in the 2022 draft with zero expectations, hoping to become a third quarterback behind Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.
You could see how Purdy could use that as fuel, or as he calls it, the chip on his shoulder, as motivation to move up the ladder.
Williams was the top dog from Day 1, had a Heisman Trophy in his pocket and was the consensus No. 1 pick out of USC and somehow managed to feel slighted and disrespected despite the fact that every team in the NFL would have loved to have him.
“I wasn’t the biggest, I wasn’t the strongest, I wasn’t the tallest, the fastest,” Williams told reporters this week. “I get drafted, I get told I’m not a special player, not a good fit. I’m told coach and I won’t work. I’m told I can’t win here.”
Expectations will do that. While Purdy came out of nowhere, stunning everyone with his production as a rookie when Lance and Garoppolo went down, Williams spent his rookie season learning the hard way and being told he wasn’t nearly as good as Jayden Daniels, who took Washington to the playoffs and the NFC Championship Game as the No. 2 pick behind Williams.
The two quarterbacks are on a collision course before a national audience when the 49ers (11-4) host the Bears (11-4) at Levi’s Stadium with both teams eyeing a top seed, first-round bye and at the least a home playoff opener.
“My goal is isn’t just to get to the playoffs, it’s to win and win and win big,” Williams said. “I’m going to keep my head down. I’m going to keep growing for the guys in this building.”
Both are coming off high points in their respective seasons. Williams threw a perfect 46-yard touchdown strike to D.J. Moore in overtime as the Bears beat the Green Bay Packers 22-16. Purdy, the NFC’s reigning Offensive Player of the Week, was 25 of 34 for 295 yards and a career-high five touchdown passes in a 48-27 win over Indianapolis on Monday night.
The head coaches, Kyle Shanahan of the 49ers and rookie coach Ben Johnson of the Bears, are blunt and unsparing when it comes to correcting mistakes. Shanahan, however, called Purdy’s game against the Colts “almost perfect.” The 49ers have been on a roll since Purdy returned from turf toe for the second time, albeit against opposition not as formidable as Chicago.
Purdy resisted the assessment or even the possibility of perfection, which in the NFL is for the most part unattainable.
“There were some missed throws and opportunities and I want to score a touchdown on every drive,” Purdy said. “So I’m looking at myself like, `how did we not convert there?’ . . . it’s just watching film and being real with myself about how I could still be better with my accuracy and being aggressive and not second-guessing certain plays. Definitely room for improvement.”
Purdy blended nicely into the Shanahan system and flourished even as few knew his name out of Iowa State when selected No. 262 overall. He and Shanahan were immediately sympatico. Williams was 5-12 and started every game under Matt Eberflus, with offensive coordinator Thomas Brown taking over as head coach when Eberflus was an in-season firing.
In came Johnson, who built the Detroit Lions offense under Dan Campbell. Williams wasn’t sure exactly where he stood in the new regime.
“At certain points it felt like our relationship is pretty fragile,” Williams said. “Geez, this dude, it doesn’t seem like he likes me . . . but you start figuring out that that’s just him and he cares so much about the sport and so much about winning. You go out there, do the job exactly how he teaches it, and when you get off the field you know he’s one of the guys.”
Johnson found it humorous, noting some of his closest friends thought the same thing upon meeting him.
Shanahan and Johnson are acquaintances who talked some at the last owner’s meetings, rather than friends. But they see the sport in the same way, and Shanahan said their offensive systems are similar.
Much as Shanahan did with Purdy, Johnson built a balanced offense that relied heavily on the running game to set up bootlegs and play-action passes. Chicago is the NFL’s No. 2 rushing team with D’Andre Swift gaining 933 yards on 204 carries and Kyle Monangai with 731 yards on 155 carries. The duo has combined for 12 touchdowns.
Williams is completing a pedestrian 58.7 percent of his passes, but has 23 touchdown passes, only seven interceptions and is one of the NFL’s most dangerous quarterbacks on the perimeter. He spreads it around to several different receivers.
“I think anytime you give a quarterback a top run game, they all look better. So, I think that helps him huge. Caleb is one of the best throwers, one of the most athletic quarterbacks I’ve ever seen in terms of his height, weight and speed,” Shanahan said. “He makes some big-time throws, extremely scary on the perimeter, can hold onto the ball for a while, not in a bad way, but by creating stuff which makes coverages have to hold up forever.”
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s mission is to devise a defense that forces Williams to beat the 49ers from the pocket rather than escaping pressure and finding openings downfield. That wasn’t a problem with 44-year-old Philip Rivers of Indianapolis. With Williams, it’s a different challenge.
“The guy can rip the ball,” Saleh said. “It feels like when he’s scrambling, he gets more accurate. He is really, really dangerous when he leaves the pocket.”
Purdy has taken the 49ers offense up a notch since returning with bootlegs and rollouts to go with his dropback passing. It was a facet that was missing under Mac Jones, who performed brilliantly and mostly from the pocket as the 49ers went 5-3 with their backup as the starter.
Johnson has watched film of the 49ers often, even when they aren’t a future opponent.
“You always like to turn on that San Francisco tape, whether you’re playing them or not, just to look at some of the stuff that they’re doing,” Johnson said. “It’s changed a little bit. It used to be they were always the No. 1 team in the NFL in terms of rushing, and it’s not to say they don’t have that ability. They do, but it’s morphed a little bit. They might be a more dangerous passing game right now.”