Quickly, decisively, the time has come for Jimmy Garoppolo to show everybody if he is The Man driving the machine or actually just along for the ride as the resurgent 49ers push their way among the NFL elite and bear down on serious championship aspirations that not many felt were really even possible for the team when this season began.
Just like it has been for everybody connected with the 49ers, the 2019 season has been a whirlwind for Garoppolo, the $137.5 million quarterback whose play has increasingly gone under the microscope as San Francisco has emerged as a serious title contender.
The microscope — and those looking through it — hasn’t always been kind. The most prevalent saying going around is that Garoppolo doesn’t always play like a $137.5 million quarterback, that he too often is more subordinate than star, a game manager whose best contribution can be to not screw everything up for a team led by a dynamite rushing game and powerful, elite defense.
As the 49ers won big on practically a weekly basis and rolled to an 8-0 start this year that is the second-best in franchise history, the inconsistencies in Garoppolo’s game left the quarterback of a NFL team still undefeated in November being viewed as a complementary figure in the team’s stunning success rather than a dynamic force that’s fueling the operation.
With the 49ers being the NFL’s only remaining unbeaten team at the season’s halfway point, Garoppolo was asked if he’s OK with this recent development.
“I’m alright with being undefeated, yeah,” Garoppolo said.
And that’s where Jimmy G brings the hammer: Scoreboard.
Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av Niner Report.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av Niner Report.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Set 49ers lineup still has several new starters
Calling all cornerbacks
Loss of Verrett exposes 49ers’ thin depth at CB
Always finding their way to run
49ers system accomplished at developing homegrown talent
ANOTHER COMEBACK?
Resilient veteran Verrett to miss rest of season
TOP 10 Rookie running backs
THE BACK LIST
STOCK UP STOCK DOWN
DEOMMODORE LENOIR | AMBRY THOMAS
Will Mostert run for 49ers again?
Raheem Mostert was primed this year to be the centerpiece of one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses, featured as the lead performer in San Francisco’s grinding rushing attack while making his climb among the league’s top running backs.
THE WONDER OF WARNER
49ers make All-Pro star highest-paid LB in NFL
Making the right choice at QB
In the weeks that follow after you read this — and perhaps sometime even sooner than that — Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers organization will make a titanic decision that will have present, future and perhaps even everlasting implications for the franchise. It will chart the course for the team’s pivotal 2021 season while determining whether San Francisco really does have the juice to return to powerhouse status and again be considered a legitimate contender to get back to the Super Bowl.
TOP 10 Linebacker seasons
Fred Warner vaulted to stardom with a spectacular 2020 season — and the 49ers rewarded him this summer with a $95.225 million deal that makes him the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history. By today’s standards, Warner’s performance last year was worth the money as he posted an Approximate Value of 19 — matching the highest score ever recorded by a San Francisco defender according to a Pro Football Reference formula that puts a single number on each player-season across all positions since 1960. Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman (twice) also had seasons with an AV of 19 as they dominate this list of the greatest individual seasons by a linebacker in 49ers history.
