There’s not much else the 49ers can say regarding their quarterback situation. As questions in public swirled about Jimmy Garoppolo’s viability as a franchise quarterback following a rocky fourth quarter showing in Super Bowl LIV, there wasn’t a doubt inside the 49ers’ organization.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan gave a strong vote of confidence to Garoppolo in his post-season press conference, and general manager John Lynch followed that up with a firm commitment to Garoppolo on Tuesday at the NFL combine.
“We’re extremely proud of Jimmy and committed to Jimmy moving forward,” Lynch told reporters in Indianapolis. “He’s our guy. As I said, from the day he walked into our building, he made us better and we continue to feel that’s the case. That’s the most exciting thing about him is the room for growth. He’s not come close to hitting his ceiling. I think the room for growth, the more experience he gets in this system, the more experience he gets playing in general, we think the arrow’s up, and that’s a good thing.”
The big picture of last season never left Garoppolo’s future in San Francisco in doubt. He went 13-3 in his first full season as a starter, and finished in the top five in completion rate, touchdown passes and yards per attempt. He was No. 8 in passer rating. One quarter of football wasn’t going to wipe out the success he had in his first full season as a starter. It’s also important to note he was recovering from a torn ACL and spent the offseason rehabbing rather than improving as a quarterback.
There are more reasons to believe he’ll be better in 2020 than reasons to believe he’ll be worse.
Speculation about a quarterback change was always ludicrous. Now the head coach and the general manager have come out strongly ini support of their quarterback. It wasn’t the half-commitment we saw from Raiders GM Mike Mayock on Tuesday to his quarterback, Derek Carr.
The 49ers are all the way in on Garoppolo, and if they make another run to the Super Bowl next season, it’ll be with No. 10 under center.
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