There is still plenty of ball left to be played and the 49ers will have to do it without Jimmy Garoppolo leading the way—but does that really change things?
People are beginning to question if San Francisco will change it up at quarterback soon, following a rough 2020 season for Jimmy G.
According to general manager John Lynch, Garoppolo isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean the 49ers aren’t shopping for another.
Lynch joined KNBR to address the “elephant in the room.” He didn’t give away all the details, but it was enough.
Lynch Addresses the Elephant
Contrary to what others are saying, Lynch has a lot of belief in what Jimmy G. is capable of when he is healthy, along with the rest of the roster.
“I think the elephant in the room, everyone wants to know about Jimmy,” Lynch said. “We’re a better football team when he’s out there. We win a lot of games when he’s out there, we’ve struggled to win without him. People can try and pick his game apart.
“I do believe a lot of this year, Jimmy probably hasn’t played up to his standard. I think a lot of that, he’s been somewhat compromised with his health since he had that high ankle in the New York Jets game. Think about prior to the ankle injury in that game, I believe he was 12-of-14, he was our player of the game. We have a lot of belief in Jimmy.”
49ers Check Out BYU QB
Lynch might mean everything he’s saying, but he also might not. In fact, the Niners sent their vice president of player personnel Adam Peters out to Boise State to watch BYU quarterback Zach Wilson.
“Adam did go out to Boise State to watch a Boise State-BYU game,” Lynch said. “That seemed to have garnered a lot of attention. We’re doing our jobs. You prepare for everything… As a scouting staff, we’re always going to be thorough, we’re always going to work our tail off to scout all the players and be prepared for anything.”
Of course, Wilson put on quite the show, finishing 22-of-28 with 360 yards, three touchdowns, and one rushing score.
Looking Ahead to 2021 Draft
Since joining the Niners in 2017 and playing a total of 31 games, Garoppolo has completed 67.5 percent of his passes for 7,352 yards, throwing 46 touchdowns and 26 interceptions.
While he can be solid, his type of play is going out of style as more teams are looking for mobile quarterbacks such as Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, and Justin Herbert.
Looking ahead at the 2021 Draft class, the draft is supposed to be jam-packed of quarterbacks next year such as Ohio State’s Justin Fields, North Dakota State’s Trey Lance, and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence. Though, the 49ers most likely won’t have a shot at Lawrence.
Even NFL vets such as Matt Ryan and Kirk Cousins have also been linked to San Francisco. Both quarterbacks previously played under Shanahan.
As for now, the 49ers will settle for Nick Mullens or C.J. Beathard.
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49ers GM John Lynch Addresses Jimmy Garoppolo’s Future