Raiders’ Josh McDaniels Breaks Silence on Jimmy Garoppolo Signing

The Las Vegas Raiders will have a new quarterback running the offense in 2023 but Jimmy Garoppolo should be able to hit the ground running quicker than Derek Carr was. Garoppolo spent over three seasons with Josh McDaniels and the coach helped him learn how to play the position in the NFL. The two are now reunited six years later and are hoping to recapture some magic.

Garoppolo wasn’t the exciting choice for fans. Big names like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson were talked about as possible Carr replacements but the Raiders went with the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback in the end. McDaniels hasn’t had a chance to say much about the Garoppolo signing but he was able to speak about it at the 2023 NFL Annual Meeting.

“We kind of took it from the ground up approach, and those four years were really good,” McDaniels said of Garoppolo. “Really, you got to know the kid, how he learns best, and he really came a long way, and then obviously what he’s done since he’s gone to Kyle [Shanahan] and John [Lynch] in San Francisco, played in a lot of big games, really performed well under pressure in a lot of those. He’s been in a really good winning culture.”

“I’m excited actually to learn from him. … Looking forward to eventually getting a chance to sit down when we can actually sit down and talk about football, and hear from his perspective, where he’s at in his growth and development, and then trying to piece this thing together as we go forward. Very excited about going forward with him.”

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Will Garoppolo Be an Improvement Over Carr?

Garoppolo is not as talented as Carr. He’s not as athletic, he isn’t as durable and doesn’t have as good of an arm. There are things that Carr is far better at than Garoppolo but there are also things the latter is better at. Garoppolo has won 70.2% of his starts over his career while Carr has only won 44.4%.

Many would point out the fact that Garoppolo has played with much better rosters but there’s no denying the 49ers were better with him on the field until last season. He’s also very good in the red zone. He has a 100.4 passer rating in the red zone, which is among the best in the NFL while Carr only has an 89.7 passer rating in the red zone, which is among the worst in the league. Garoppolo may not be the better quarterback but he could be a better fit with the Raiders, which could lead to the offense taking a step forward.

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Dave Ziegler Addresses Garoppolo Signing

General manager Dave Ziegler also hadn’t addressed the signing of Garoppolo. He finally touched on the subject and is excited about the addition.

“Simply put: Proven leader, proven winner,” Ziegler said in an interview with Tashan Reed of The Athletic. “I think he’s won 70 percent of his starts. And you can caveat that with the whys and all that stuff but, at the end of the day, he was a part of winning a lot of football games. He’s a proven leader, he’s a proven winner and the next part of that is obviously he’s been steeped in the offensive system that we run. And so, there’s an advantage in that, too. Simply put, that’s what it was.”

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