2022 NFL Draft: Iowa State QB Brock Purdy a late round steal?

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Jan 2, 2021; Glendale, AZ, USA; Iowa State Cyclones quarterback Brock Purdy (15) in the second half of the Fiesta Bowl against the Oregon Ducks at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Brock Purdy leads his Iowa State team on a quest for the Big XII crown, all while trying to solidify his 2022 NFL Draft stock.

Hailing from the relative quarterback hotbed of Arizona (Spencer Rattler, Brett Hundley, and Tyler Shough are all from the Grand Canyon State), Brock Purdy was a three-star prospect. In his 2017 senior season at Perry High School in Gilbert, AZ, Purdy led his team to the state championship game. They lost to Chandler High School 48-42.

But Purdy made a deep impression on awards voters, collecting the Gatorade High School Player of the Year Award for the state of Arizona and the Ed Doherty Award for the best high school player in Arizona.

Offered by Alabama, Texas A&M, Boise State, Central Florida, and Iowa State, Purdy signed with the Cyclones. In the summer of 2018, Purdy was enrolled in classes at Iowa State and arrived in Ames as the third QB on the depth chart.

Through a combination of injuries and poor play from the quarterbacks ahead of him, in his true freshman season of 2018, Purdy played in 10 games and started eight, gripping the starting quarterback job so tightly that he would never let it go.

The banner year for Brock Purdy was 2019, when he set the Big XII on fire, throwing for a career-high 3,982 yards on 8.4 yards per attempt. His touchdown to interception ratio was superb at 27-9, and he added 8 rushing touchdowns to top it all off. The Cyclones were even a two-point conversion away from knocking off Oklahoma on the road in Norman.

For Purdy, 2020 was a statistically middle-of-the-road year. He played better than he had his freshman season, but his numbers weren’t as good as those of his sophomore season in 2019 (2,750 yards on 7.4 yards per attempt, 19-9 TD-INT, and 5 rushing TDs).

The main breakthrough and difference though was the success of the team. Iowa State had a terrific season in 2020, beating Oklahoma at home, Texas on the road, and going 8-1 in the Big XII regular season. The Cyclones, unfortunately, lost the rematch against Oklahoma in the Big XII Championship game but triumphed over Oregon in the 2021 Fiesta Bowl 34-17 as a nice consolation prize.

Brock Purdy could have declared for the draft after last season, but he elected to finish his career in Ames and will be eligible for the 2022 NFL Draft.

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