Tag: 49ers depth chart

Jimmy Garoppolo gets strong vote of confidence from Kyle Shanahan

The 49ers aren’t going to cut Jimmy Garoppolo.

Jimmy Garoppolo’s poor fourth-quarter performance in Super Bowl 54 sparked questions about his viability as the 49ers’ franchise quarterback moving forward. Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Thursday skewered rumors of a split with Garoppolo during his post-season press conference.

Shanahan said the loss doesn’t squarely fall on Garoppolo’s shoulders and pointed out that he likely would’ve been the game’s MVP had the team not fallen apart at the end. Then Shanahan explained why he’s optimistic about his quarterback moving forward.

“I think Jimmy is one of the main reasons we got to the Super Bowl,” Shanahan said. “I think he overcame a lot. This was his first year in his career going through an entire NFL season. He still doesn’t have as many starts and stuff as (Browns QB) Baker Mayfield. I think he had a hell of a first year truly playing the position, especially coming off an ACL where you have to fight through that a ton as a quarterback, where your rhythm and everything is not there at the beginning of the year. For him to be like that and to not let the pressure get to him, and to improve as the year went, I think says a ton about Jimmy. I can’t tell you how much I loved coaching the guy as a player and as a person this year.”

Garoppolo tore his ACL in Week 3 of the 2018 season, but returned to start all 16 games in 2019. After a slow start, his productivity picked up over the back half of the season, and his comfort in the offense was apparent en route to guiding San Francisco to a 13-3 record and their first playoff trip since 2013.

After throwing just 27 passes in two playoff games leading up to the Super Bowl, questions started piling up about whether Shanahan trusted his quarterback. The importance of those two games certainly magnify Garoppolo’s relative absence in the offense and force fans to search for answers.

However, Garoppolo was among the best quarterbacks in the league statistically during the regular season. His 3,978 yards were the fourth-most ever by a 49ers quarterback. He also finished sixth in touchdown passes and third in yards-per-attempt among all quarterbacks in 2019.

The notion that San Francisco was going to move on from Garoppolo because of a half quarter of football was always ludicrous, but the strong vote of confidence from Shanahan moving into the offseason is a further indicator that he’ll be under center for San Francisco as they try and get back to the Super Bowl in 2020.

Ahkello Witherspoon says he’s starting Saturday vs. Vikings

The 49ers got one of their big defensive questions answered Wednesday.

The 49ers defense apparently has an answer to their biggest non-injury question going into the playoffs.

Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon on Wednesday told reporters he’ll be starting across from Richard Sherman in the divisional round Saturday against the Vikings.

Witherspoon’s performance declined dramatically over the final three weeks of the season, and culminated in the third-year corner getting benched in favor of Emmanuel Moseley for the final drive against the Seahawks in Week 17. Moseley recorded a pass breakup against DK Metcalf to knock down what would’ve been the go-ahead touchdown.

Witherspoon declined to elaborate on why he was benched against Seattle.

Moseley,  an undrafted second-year corner, started nine games early in the year while Witherspoon dealt with a foot strain. He played well in Witherspoon’s stead, but went back to the bench once Witherspoon was healthy.

It’ll be interesting to see how much leeway Witherspoon gets in the 49ers’ playoff game. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh came to the young cornerback’s defense and said he didn’t play poorly against Seattle.

Witherspoon was having the best year of his career prior to the last few weeks, and his dip in production coincides with the decline of the 49ers’ pass rush. Dee Ford’s return should help immensely with that. Witherspoon will also get help with Jaquiski Tartt’s entry back into the starting lineup at strong safety.

Given how important communication is in the 49ers’ secondary, having the more experienced Witherspoon in the lineup for the playoffs is probably the correct move. However, Minnesota won’t hesitate to target him with their dynamic receiving corps. If he struggles early, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Moseley get some snaps.

49ers sign familiar DE, place Ronald Blair on IR

The 49ers lost Ronald Blair for the season, so they turned to a familiar face at defensive end.

The 49ers were bit hard by the injury bug Monday night, but the biggest blow came when defensive end Ronald Blair suffered a torn ACL while taking down Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.

Blair on Wednesday was officially placed on injured reserve, and his roster spot was filled with defensive end Damontre Moore.

Moore might sound familiar because of his terrific preseason showing with the 49ers. He had 2.0 sacks in the exhibition slate, but created a ton of pressure in a relatively large sample size.

His big preseason wasn’t enough to land a roster spot though on a deep 49ers defensive line. Losing Blair put the 49ers in a spot where they couldn’t simply add another DL. They had to match Blair’s skill set, and Moore is probably the closest they were going to find on the free agent wire.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters the team wanted Moore on the roster, but couldn’t make it work at a deep defensive end spot. He also said they were fortunate Moore was available after his strong preseason.

“Yeah, definitely with how well of a preseason he had,” Shanahan said when asked if he was surprised Moore was available. “But it’s tough in this league, especially being a veteran when you don’t have practice squad eligibility. I guess it didn’t work out for him, but with the tape he put on, yeah, we were surprised and felt lucky he was still out there.”

Moore has played in 54 games across six NFL seasons. He also spent time in the Alliance of American Football and played well in the now-defunct league. The 27-year-old has 10-career sacks, although 9.5 of them came in the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

Replacing Blair won’t be easy. He’s a very smart, productive player in the 49ers defensive line rotation. Blair had 3.0 sacks and seven tackles for loss before sustaining his season-ending knee injury.

Moore will get a chance to debut for the 49ers on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.