Brock Purdy is playing at an elite level, and the rest of the football world is taking notice. Four-time Super Bowl winning tight end Rob Gronkowski sat down with Kay Adams on her podcast, “Up & Adams,” on Wednesday and gave his pick for NFL MVP through the first four weeks of the season. And he is sold on Purdy.
“Brock Purdy should be the favorite,” Gronkowski told Adams. “Brock Purdy should be number one, and then it should be Lamar Jackson, and then it should be Josh Allen after that last game.”
Purdy has registered 1,007 passing yards and is tied for the league lead in passing touchdowns with 11. He has only thrown one interception, which came in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams. Purdy’s high level of play for the 49ers comes in the midst of the team dealing with serious injuries at wide receiver, making it that much more impressive.
But Gronkowski does not want to get ahead of himself, acknowledging that even though Purdy is dominating the NFL, there is still a lot of season left to play.
“It’s kind of stupid to say who should be the favorite right now,” Gronkowski said. “There should just be a list of the top eight guys that have a possibility of winning the MVP. It’s just after Week 4, so I’m going to sell this one just because I don’t like how there’s favorites every single week because you really need a whole season to understand who the MVP is going to be.”
The 49ers are 4-0 to begin the 2026 NFL season, with Purdy coming off of another strong game. He threw for 218 yards and two passing touchdowns in a 24-14 win over the Denver Broncos. Purdy struggled in the first half, but locked in for the second half, throwing one touchdown each to wide receiver Deebo Samuel and tight end George Kittle.
Purdy and the 49ers face their toughest test of the season so far in Week 5, going on the road to face the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. If Purdy can play well against an elite Seahawks defense, his status as the MVP favorite will be unquestioned.