Grading the 49ers: Brock Purdy avoids serious injury but is likely done for season

Brock Purdy’s season is likely finished after he suffered a right elbow contusion with nerve inflammation near the end of the 49ers’ 40-34 loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday night, but the quarterback escaped with good news following further evaluation.

“No long-term issues,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday. “UCL looks fine.”

The 49ers will likely start either Josh Dobbs, who relieved Purdy and scored a touchdown Monday, or Brandon Allen in Sunday’s season finale against the Arizona Cardinals.

Quarterback: Purdy (59 snaps), Josh Dobbs (5)
Game grade: A-

Yes, Purdy threw two damaging second-half interceptions. But he also thoroughly dominated the game for the first three quarters, positioning the 49ers to score over 30 points in that timeframe. That, by any objective measure of QB play, qualifies as a sterling performance.

The 49ers defense simply did next to nothing to support Purdy — astonishingly, the 49ers trailed after three quarters despite their torrid offensive play — and then came the fourth quarter during which Shanahan abandoned the run game and put his pass offense into a vulnerable spot.

Running back/fullback: Isaac Guerendo (39), Patrick Taylor Jr. (13) Kyle Juszczyk (27)
Game grade: C

At 3.8 yards per carry, Guerendo wasn’t particularly efficient. But he, along with a notably creative perimeter run game, gave the 49ers enough on the ground in the first half to set up Purdy’s roaring pass performance.

But the 49ers ended up handing the ball off only 14 times in this game. That was less than half of Detroit’s 30-handoff total, and 11 of those runs came in the first half. The usage here strayed too far from the 49ers’ formula of balance. Perhaps the team was being cautious with Guerendo’s workload since he was coming off hamstring and foot injuries.

This much is certain: The return of a healthy Christian McCaffrey cannot come soon enough for the 49ers.

Wide receiver: Jennings (60), Deebo Samuel (53), Ricky Pearsall (45), Chris Conley (4), Jacob Cowing (5)
Game grade: A

Pearsall looks like a budding star, delivering eight catches for 141 yards less than four months after being shot in the chest. The story of his rookie season has been nothing short of remarkable. Samuel is also on track to enter the offseason back at full speed following bouts with an oblique injury and pneumonia earlier in the season. He was moving fast on his touchdown sprint to the right side.

It’s important to remember how instrumental Brandon Aiyuk was to the 49ers’ league-leading offense in 2023. They’ve clearly missed him this season and finally seemed to overcome that absence at the “X” receiver spot for at least the first three quarters on Monday. Aiyuk’s recovery from ACL and MCL tears will be pivotal news to track this offseason as the 49ers vie to re-establish their positioning as the league’s top offense.

Tight end: George Kittle (60), Eric Saubert (13), Brayden Willis (1)
Game grade: A+

With eight catches for 112 yards, Kittle surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the fourth season of his career — a run which will certainly land him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It would take two touchdown catches for Kittle in Arizona to reach double digits in that category for the second time in his career.

Worth noting: This might the healthiest the 31-year-old Kittle has been late in a season since early in his career.

Offensive line: Colton McKivitz (64), Dominick Puni (64), Jake Brendel (64), Nick Zakelj (64), Charlie Heck (32), Austen Pleasants (32)
Game grade: A

A week after a porous pass-blocking performance against the Dolphins, the 49ers — with an even more beleaguered front — held up well.

Heck and Pleasants, both of whom were on different teams’ practice squads earlier this month, split time at left tackle. They were the team’s fourth and fifth different players to protect Purdy’s blindside this season.

“I thought those guys stepped up big time for the situation we were in,” Shanahan said. “I’m really proud of them.”

49ers O-line pressures allowed versus Lions

Defensive line: Nick Bosa (62), Maliek Collins (48), Leonard Floyd (13), Yetur Gross-Matos (38), Sam Okuayinonu (28), Jordan Elliott (39), Evan Anderson (31), Kalia Davis (21), Alex Barrett (6)
Game grade: D

Bosa has returned to seemingly full health and was excellent, notching a pair of sacks and seven pressures working primarily against star Detroit tackle Penei Sewell. But the rest of the 49ers’ defensive line managed very little. Floyd’s departure after just 13 snaps due to a shoulder injury was a significant part of the problem.

Lions quarterback Jared Goff attempted only eight throws under pressure. He averaged a measly 4.6 yards per attempt on those passes. Meanwhile, Goff was 22-of-26 at 10.2 yards per attempt when the 49ers didn’t pressure him — which was often.

Linebacker: Fred Warner (71), Dee Winters (62), Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (15), Jalen Graham (11), Tatum Bethune (4)
Game grade: D

Nothing of positive note came from this level of the defense, which is so important to the 49ers’ final product on this side of the ball. The 49ers couldn’t slow the run and defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen was unable to scheme extra pressure from the back seven to make Goff uncomfortable. The 49ers clearly need Warner, who’s playing out this season on a fractured foot, to heal up for 2025. And he’ll need impactful help.

Will Dre Greenlaw return to fill that role? That’s one of several intriguing roster-building questions for the offseason.

Defensive back: Malik Mustapha (69), Talanoa Hufanga (56), Deommodore Lenoir (71), Renardo Green (71), Isaac Yiadom (48), Ji’Ayir Brown (17)
Game grade: D

Green and Mustapha, a pair of rookies, teamed to deliver a pass break-up against Detroit tight end Sam LaPorta on fourth down in the end zone. That was a great play, but unfortunately for the 49ers, it was also their biggest defensive moment of the game.

The 49ers, NFL leaders in interceptions over 2022 and 2023, have dropped to No. 20 this season. They don’t have an interception since Week 11, when Yiadom picked off Seattle’s Geno Smith.

Special teams
Game grade: F

Jake Moody just keeps missing kicks. He was 0-for-2 on field goals Monday before also shanking an extra point.

Prior to his high ankle sprain in October, Moody had missed only one kick — good for a 93% clip. Since returning from that injury, Moody is 10-of-18 (56%) and a massive concern for the 49ers entering this offseason.

Shanahan said the 49ers won’t bring in outside kicking competition over this final week of the season, but Moody’s struggles make it very possible — if not likely — that the 49ers make a move there this offseason.