Gallery: 11/11
No. 1 Nothin' But a Jimmy G Thang
After years of backing up Tom Brady in New England, Jimmy Garoppolo finally got his opportunity thanks to being traded to San Francisco last season. The 49ers turned over the offense to Garoppolo late in the season, and the results were positive. Garoppolo threw for 1,560 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions. Given Garoppolo's play in this small sample size, expectations are high for the quarterback and potentially a bit unrealistic. San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan admitted to the USA Today that there is room for improvement for his new quarterback.
“It’s not always perfect,” Shanahan explained to USA Today. “That’s what we’re trying to get him to do better and better each week. Sometimes he doesn’t always go through it right and still makes some plays. So we’re hard on him about that stuff. … There’s a number of times he didn’t do perfect on and he made a play and kept us on the field also. So you got to take the good with the bad and continue to keep coaching.”
According to Fantasy Pros, Garoppolo is being drafted as QB10 with an ADP of 92.4. The Niners quarterback is going off the board in the seventh round in 12-team leagues. If you are one of the fantasy owners that have faith in Garoppolo, this name courtesy of Sporting News is perfect for your team. For Garoppolo to live up to being a top-12 quarterback, he will need the Niners young receiving core to step up in a big way. Since emerging as a starting NFL quarterback, Garoppolo admits that his life is a bit different now with more scrutiny than when he was a backup.
"Life is different now," Garoppolo told ESPN. "My life off the field, I've never really been very big on being very public with things. Even social media, I'm not out there a ton, but my life is looked at differently, [and] I'm under a microscope."
Garoppolo made ESPN's Matthew Berry's Love list for this upcoming season. A big reason for Berry's optimism is Garoppolo playing in Shanahan's fantasy friendly offense.
"Shanahan's offense is complicated, but once [Matt] Ryan mastered it, he had the greatest fantasy season of his career," Berry explained. "With an improved offensive line, a full season to master the playbook, Pierre Garcon back healthy and a nice pass-catcher such as Jerick McKinnon added in the backfield to go with nice young pieces such as George Kittle, Trent Taylor and, of course, Marquise Goodwin ... the sky is the limit. Although Garoppolo is currently going outside the top 10, I have him as a starter in ESPN leagues, and frankly, I might not be high enough on him."