Brock Purdy was a revelation for the 49ers last year after they lost Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo due to injury. Now, Purdy was the QB9 in fantasy from Weeks 13 onwards and averaged 18.1 fantasy points per game. Everything was riding high for Brock Purdy and the 49ers, at least until he tore his UCL in his throwing arm in the NFC Championship Game. Purdy then had his surgery pushed back due to inflammation in his elbow and ultimately did not get his surgery until March of this year. So, his surgery got pushed back all the way until March.
Now, I'm going to give you guys a lesson on what surgical techniques are used for this and why his surgery is a little bit different than what you would expect the gold standard to be from a rehab perspective. Now, traditionally, a UCL tear, which is the ligament on the inside of the elbow, is repaired using a Tommy John surgery. That surgery is absolutely brutal for throwing athletes, but it is the gold standard for a reason. During a Tommy John surgery, the UCL is reconstructed or replaced using another tendon grafted from the body. Basically, they built him a new UCL, at least they would have if that was the surgery that he actually got.
Now, UCL repairs using a Tommy John surgery reconstruction can take up to 12 months to recover from, and Brock Purdy didn't have 12 months because he's trying to compete for the 49ers' starting quarterback position going forward this year, and he can't afford to miss an entire season to Trey Lance if he wants to be the starter. So, he opted instead for a newer surgery called a UCL repair with an internal brace. Now, this surgery involves repairing the torn UCL and adding a brace to provide extra support to the ligament as it heals. And afterwards, this surgical technique allows for a much faster return to throwing than the traditional Tommy John surgery. You're looking at about six to nine months in order to return to throwing instead of over 12. So, it's a pretty significant jump.
Now, what does it mean? I fully expect Brock Purdy to play football this year. Now, I know that's not saying much because we don't know where on the spectrum he's going to be from a return to throwing full-speed capacity. At six months, he's back Week 1. At nine months, we're talking about the end of the season. So, it is a big win for fantasy gamers to know that he is going to be able to return at some point. The question is when, and we actually do have a precedent of this surgery with a quarterback. So, if you're looking at it from a dynasty perspective, can I trust Brock Purdy after this year? This is what you want to hear: Ben Roethlisberger opted for the exact same procedure back in 2019. He returned and did have a successful statistical season in 2020, but he had a full six months longer to recover than Brock Purdy does. Obviously, it's not fair to compare a 38-year-old Ben Roethlisberger to a 23-year-old Brock Purdy, but I would be very surprised to see Purdy actually return at the six-month mark like they're saying he might because of all the unknowns that we have surrounding his elbow, surrounding his recovery, and just the 49ers quarterback room in general.
He's going to be on the "do not draft" list for 2023, but I'm really hoping that we can see Brock Purdy play at some point this year.
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