It's only Aug. 15. There are still two more preseason games to go and about a month left until the 49ers open the regular season on Sept. 11 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
So, it's the perfect time to make some bold predictions for the 2023 NFL season.
During his appearance on 95.7 The Game's "Willard & Dibs" Tuesday, former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci said Brock Purdy is good enough to lead the Niners to the promiseland.
"It was unbelievable what he did (last year)," Mariucci told hosts Mark Willard and John Dickinson (filling in for Dan Dibley. "I'd like to see it again. If he plays like that again, the Niners win the Super Bowl."
Like the rest of us, Mariucci kept waiting for the bottom to fall out for Purdy, the final pick in last year's draft, but it never happened. After taking over for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 13 last year, Purdy guided the 49ers to eight straight wins, taking them to the NFC Championship.
"Two games doesn't make a Hall of Fame career, but then we saw it again," Mariucci said. "Then we saw it again, then we saw it again and it was like, 'Who is this guy?' He was very consistently good and it surprised the heck out of me, of you and everybody else. I'll promise you, it surprised the 49ers brass. Because if they knew this was coming, they woulda picked him up a lot sooner."
With a star-studded roster that features players like Nick Bosa, Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey, Fred Warner, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk – Mariucci thinks the 49ers are set to thrive with Purdy under center. At this point, Mariucci is grouping the 49ers with elite NFL squads like the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs, reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles and the Buffalo Bills.
"There are other good teams in the league, but those probably are the four best," Mariucci said. "I'm excited about the 49ers. They're a great football team. They've got great players all over the place. The number of blue-chip players that they have on that roster is crazy."
