Brock Purdy proves he's Mr. Very Relevant on football cards

On Draft Day he was "Mr. Irrelevant" -- the last guy that mattered and a bit of a punchline -- but today he's perhaps the NFL's new star on cardboard.

He's San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Brock Purdy and after his first career playoff game -- a 41-23 rout of the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday -- he's on the collecting radar even more. He's the lowest-drafted rookie QB to start a playoff game, win one -- something only three rookie non-first-rounders have done -- and that unlikely win is propelling interest in his already popular and relatively scarce overall volume of cards.

Why do we say that? While first-round quarterback Kenny Pickett appears on more than 3,600 different football cards so far, Purdy is at around 400 unique cards from Panini America, Wild Card, Leaf Trading Cards and others in 2022 packed out releases and online-exclusive singles releases. The good news? Almost 300 of those cards are the type that matter most to collectors -- autographs.

It's this overall scarcity that could propel his best cards into the stratosphere if the 49ers make a run this year but also help their values in the future if they come up short -- there's simply far less for collectors to grab vs. other high-profile rookies in 2022 releases. On Friday, the 2022 Panini Certified Mirror Gold Black autograph you see above sold as a PSA 10 on eBay for $22,500 -- and it's not alone being an in-demand card with potential.

The brand with the most Purdy ink might be a surprising one -- it's 2022 Wild Card Five Card Draw, a release where it's autographs-only in every single pack and all cards across the release are numbered to five copies or less. He has nearly 150 different cards in that one with more than 50 of those being 1/1 creations. The five-card boxes are also not that expensive for five-auto boxes, either, vs. a lot of stuff in a cardboard landscape that can arrive with a lot less ink and cost more. This box is arguably one of your better chances at his ink and, again, everything is limited to five, four, three and two copies or is a 1/1 card. Landing Purdy here potentially would pay for a few boxes, too. He also can be found in 2022 Wild Card Auto Mania, which has eight autos per box.

That said, the rest of the releases that have Purdy ink are all relatively low volume in the number of cards made (most have fewer than 30 autographs including all parallels) but not necessarily lower in their print runs. His ink can be found in Panini Mosaic Draft, Panini Black, Elite, Mosaic, Spectra, Certified, Select Draft, Immaculate Collection college and National Treasures college -- a mix of stuff showing him in his Iowa State colors as well as his NFL threads. A few of those autos are not numbered but nearly everything that is is in just double-digits (for now) and the highest is /199 copies (Panini Black). Asking prices for Purdy ink are steep over on eBay with numbers that dwarf even the Certified Black above -- as high as $60,000 at the moment with lows around $400 for college autos.

For standard Rookie Card definitions, as things stand right now Purdy appears on just five RCs (more 2022 NFL stuff is still coming, of course) -- Panini Black, Panini Certified (/399), Elite (/999), Panini Mosaic and Panini Spectra. Also options out there for more standard cardboard are Panini Instant and Leaf/Pro Set online cards but those aren't RCs per se since they were not pack-released. The newly arriving Mosaic RCs are perhaps the top draw -- and collectors should also be aware that fake/unauthorized creations are also prevalent since he's a popular rookie on the rise with a lower volume of cards available.

He should have a presence in 2022 releases still to come and can be found in previously mentioned 2022 releases here.

Purdy's playoff push has heated things up after a season where he had a 5-0 run taking over as the 49ers starter. He threw for 1,374 yards and 13 TDs with just four interceptions during the regular season. Up next for the 49ers will be the winner of tonight's Cowboys-Buccaneers game, which, of course, could be the final game of the historic career of another QB who was an afterthought of sorts as a rookie on cards back in the day ... Tom Brady. 

--

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com