GETTY Jimmy Garoppolo and Tom Brady attend the 145th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 04, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky.
With the entire San Francisco 49ers roster now in Santa Clara, California, fans were undoubtedly happy to see Jimmy Garoppolo speak to the media.
The San Francisco quarterback went on a digital podium, speaking to members of the 49ers’ media about the build-up to San Francisco’s 2020 season as well as looking back at a tumultuous offseason for several reasons.
One such reason for the quarterback was the reported rumors that San Francisco took a hard look at now-Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady after the legendary passer left the New England Patriots.
While general manager John Lynch and the 49ers confirmed they took a look at Brady, they also came to the conclusion that sticking with Garoppolo was the best move.
That still may scare a player, but the 27-year-old said he wasn’t too fazed by the possibility of the 49ers moving on to Brady.
“When all that was going on,” Garoppolo said. “You hear about it, but I really wasn’t too worried. I’m always confident in my play. I know what I put out there this season, so it’s all about being confident.”
No team wants their quarterback doubting if he’s the man for the job or if the top brass think he’s the man for the job, so that’s only a positive sign heading into training camp.
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Look Back at Lynch’s Comments
Lynch openly talked about the discussions he, head coach Kyle Shanahan and others had surrounding the quarterback position back in May when he talked with Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
“We went back and took a hard look at Jimmy,” Lynch said. “We grinded for a period of three, four days. And I think we both came back and said, ‘You know what? We’ve got the long-term answer in our building right now, and we feel really strongly about that.’ As enticing as it might be—and we felt like it was a responsibility to take a look, because that’s a very unique situation—we did that, we talked with Jimmy, and told him just what we did.”
Talking on the Rich Eisen Show, Lynch did confirm that the team at least took a look at TB12 as the 49ers’ quarterback going forward.
“When you’re talking about one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time with Tom Brady, of course, you’re going to have some internal discussion. And then you hear rumors that hey, he’d like to come home, that kind of thing… So of course [coach] Kyle [Shanahan] and I have discussions. We’re always into getting better, so you always look at everything, especially a situation like that.
Comparing Brady to Garoppolo
In terms of careers, it’s obviously not a comparison. One has just finished his first full season, and the other has six Super Bowl rings.
However, in 2020, Brady and Jimmy G weren’t all that far apart.
While the new Bucs’ QB eclipsed Garoppolo in passing yards, 4057 to 3978, Jimmy G beat his former teammate in touchdowns (27 to 24,) completion percentage (69.1 to 60.8,) and percentage of throws that went for touchdowns(5.7 to 3.9.)
In all honestly, the current quality of the two quarterbacks are a bit evenly matched, but as Lynch mentioned, there wasn’t much reason for that serious of a shakeup considering they have a long-term QB available.
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Evan Reier is a sportswriter covering the San Francisco 49ers for Heavy.com and local sports for the Montana Standard in Butte, Mont. Reach out to him on Twitter at @evanreier and join our 49ers community at Heavy on 49ers on Facebook.