After working with Joe Staley for most of his tenure with the 49ers, Jimmy Garoppolo will have a new left tackle protecting his blind side this season. San Francisco acquired seven-time Pro Bowler Trent Williams in a trade with Washington on Day 3 of the NFL draft. Williams is already fond of his quarterback.
The 49ers’ new left tackle joined Ian Rapoport’s podcast, ‘RapSheet and Friends,’ and had high praise for the team’s quarterback.
“I think Jimmy G is awesome. I think he’s, as proven, he’s a quarterback that you can win with in this league. It’s just hard to find,” Williams told Rapoport. “You know, quarterback is the toughest position to pin down … Having a quarterback that you know is going to make the right read, the right throw … that has to allow Kyle (Shanahan) – give him a chance to sleep at night. Because just having a guy that you know won’t throw the game away for you, and you put in the best position possible he’ll win.”
One of the criticisms of Garoppolo has been that Shanahan’s offense is the reason he was one of the NFL’s most efficient passers last season. Williams highlighted a pro-Garoppolo point though by saying that he can win when put in position to do so.
For all the talk of the 49ers’ run game and defense last year, there were several instances where it was the quarterback’s right arm that got San Francisco to the finish line with a victory.
Williams hasn’t had much luck at the quarterback position during his career. Washington has started 11 different players under center since Williams joined the club in 2010 as a first-round pick. He had the same quarterback for all 16 games only three times in his career. As a result, Washington won more than eight games twice and lost in the first round of the playoffs in both of their postseason trips.
Garoppolo and the 49ers should provide a different experience for Williams though. He started all 16 games under center last year and won 13 of them – more than Washington won in any of Williams’ 10 years there.
Williams and Garoppolo haven’t gotten a chance to play together yet, but the quarterback showed enough in his lone full season as a starter to get his left tackle excited about stepping in and blocking for him. Having a different starting left tackle will be new for Garoppolo, and having a regular starting quarterback will be relatively new for Williams.
[lawrence-related id=658300]