Ex-teammate says Brock Purdy is still climbing, as the 49ers close in on the 2026 season

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is headed into the 2026 season with the kind of offseason storyline that rarely stays confined to the practice field. In a July 16, 2026 item published by Yahoo Sports, former teammate Xavier Hutchinson suggested that Purdy’s peak has not arrived yet, framing the upcoming stretch as another year in which he will have to earn every bit of attention anew.

Hutchinson’s core message was not about one breakout moment or a single dramatic improvement, but about consistency across time. He said you “have to prove it every single season, in every single game,” and he connected that standard to what he believes Purdy has already demonstrated. In that same discussion, Hutchinson added that he is “super excited” for Purdy and does not think the quarterback’s current level represents “the best” Purdy has shown.

That framing matters because it mirrors how NFL teams and fans tend to evaluate quarterbacks, especially in an organization like the 49ers, where postseason performance is the central reference point. Even when a quarterback is widely respected, the position carries a standing requirement: production, decision-making, and the ability to keep a team functioning as defenses adjust from week to week and from January to January.

The comments also land at a moment when offseason optimism usually runs high and the calendar begins to press harder. Training camp and the preseason do not simply test fundamentals. They also reveal which players have improved their timing and communication, and whether a quarterback can carry the same operational rhythm when the game-speed variables change. For Purdy, that means repeating the process that coaches ask for every year, while opponents prepare for him in more intentional ways than they did during earlier phases of his career.

There is also a subtle but meaningful distinction in Hutchinson’s wording. By tying “best is yet to come” to a recurring requirement to prove himself, Hutchinson is essentially saying Purdy’s growth should be expected, not assumed. In practical terms, that is an endorsement of ceiling, but it is also a warning label that every season is a new audition, regardless of what has already happened.

For the 49ers, this kind of public confidence can serve a purpose beyond morale. A quarterback who hears the same message from teammates and peers gets reinforced on the internal habits that tend to translate to the field, while the organization can treat leadership as a repeatable process instead of a one-time headline. Hutchinson’s emphasis on daily, season-long proof fits that mold.

What to watch next is straightforward. As the 2026 preseason and regular season approach, the most telling indicators will be whether Purdy’s command of the offense looks steady against live looks, and whether the team’s execution reflects the kind of continuity that becomes harder once opponents get more specific. Hutchinson’s view suggests the storyline is not just about what Purdy can do, but whether he can keep doing it at a high level as the season tightens.

Until additional, game-specific reporting arrives, the safest conclusion is that Hutchinson’s assessment is an outlook rather than a measurable prediction. It is a vote of confidence rooted in Purdy’s past body of work, but it still leaves the central question squarely where it belongs: can he keep proving it once the games start counting again?