After 17 starts in the the NFL, Brock Purdy has a lot to be thankful this holiday season, and the 49ers vice versa.

The San Francisco 49ers quarterback has now played 17 games as the 49er starter, dating back to when he first suited up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last December. Since then, Purdy has established himself as an emerging franchise signal-caller.

And the stats can back it up.

The Arizona native has cumulated 4,138 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 73.07 completion percentage. He is also No.1 in quarterback rating (76.3) and passer rating (109.9) this season.

Simply put: Brock Purdy has been better than anyone, except maybe himself, expected to be in Year 1 of the NFL.

And yet, it wasn’t an easy road to get here. Battling through adversity throughout his football career, Purdy found himself as the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, labeled as Mr. Irrelevant.

But Purdy has been been the antithesis since taking over for Jimmy Garoppolo, playing without fear despite the hurdles in front of him.

“Yeah, I mean it’s a mindset I’d say. Just playing without fear,” Brock Purdy said Thursday. “The fear of failure is something that I feel like I’ve learned over the years, especially in college. If you go out there and have that mentality of, I don’t want to mess up, then you start playing timid and then you’re o