The Jimmy G Era is Underway in the Bay Area

An injury may have forced his hand, but the Bay Area is more than ready for the Jimmy Garoppolo era to get underway.

Let the Garoppolo era begin in the Bay Area. After acquiring the long withstanding Patriot’s backup quarterback on October 30th, the San Francisco 49ers finally made the right call to start Garoppolo in Week 13.

Acquired from the New England Patriots in exchange for a second-round pick, 49ers fans got their first taste of Jimmy G when a late injury to C.J. Beathard forced his hand. The appearance brought some life to an otherwise poor performance against the Seattle Seahawks. Garoppolo completed two passes and rushed for six yards, including a 10-yard touchdown pass to Louis Murphy on the last play of the game.

Rookie general manager John Lynch has made some impressive moves in his first year, despite the lack of on-the-field results. The team of himself and Kyle Shanahan have worked tirelessly to bring the 49ers back to relevance. Garoppolo is just another piece of the solution. The acquisition of the Eastern Illnois alumnus allows San Francisco to significantly pivot in their draft strategy. Rather than chasing the Kirk Cousins free agency bandwagon or using their most-likely top-three draft pick on a quarterback, they can focus on drafting the best player available to suit their other needs.

Garoppolo’s ability to learn on the fly is clearly on display here. While there is familiarity in NFL concepts, adjusting to a new system is almost like learning a completely different language. For Jimmy G to be starting within five weeks of his trade is an accomplishment in his own right. With C.J. Beathard’s continued struggles, it was curious to wonder how far the 49ers would go to resist the temptation of playing Garoppolo before he was ready.

A lot of faith has been placed in Garoppolo even in the face of the fact that he has limited experience at this level. He mainly rose to prominnence during the suspension of Tom Brady last season. The absence of Brady shifted him into the starting role and he performed admirably as the Patriot awaited their superstar’s return. Garoppolo played two quality games during this duration and probably would have added two more to his belt if it wasn’t for a sprained AC joint suffered against the Miami Dolphins last season. If it wasn’t for Kiko Alonso, Garoppolo may have doubled the 498 yards and four touchdowns he threw against the Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals combined. Garoppolo has been a true student of the game, learning from his mentor Brady in the same way that Aaron Rodgers prepared himself while Brett Favre faded out of Green Bay.

Jimmy G shows a tremendous amount of promise as an NFL quarterback and has made a significant amount of progress to this day. He’s one of the few that can move the ball accurately down the field and has the mentality necessary to be a field general under center. Garoppolo is generally uncredited for his contributions to the Patriots, and it should be taken into consideration how his play in practice helped prepare New England’s defenses week after week. As a more mobile passer, he was crucial in New England’s preparation for Russell Wilson and the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. And in addition to his legs, he brings the swagger of winning to San Francisco. Garoppolo is in possession of two Super Bowl Rings as backup. He may not have participated in either of those games, but he does know first hand what it takes to be a member of a team that wins. Few players ever reach the pinnacle of this sport once, Garoppolo is fortunate to have won it twice already.

The down side to all of this is that Garoppolo comes with exceedingly high expectations. Based on the price paid for him and his time spent under Belichick and Brady, positive results are a foregone conclusion in the eyes of many. For some, even the most minor of slip ups could cause pundits to doubt Garoppolo’s abilities.

San Fran’s Week 13 matchup against the Chicago Bears was a homecoming for Jimmy G. Garoppolo was born in Illinois and attended college at Eastern Illinois. The Bears proved to be a good test of the young quarterback’s poise as they themselves are searching to find their own image, behind rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.

Garoppolo had a decent game against the Bears where he went 26–37 for 293 yards and an interception. Despite the lack of eye opening statistics, Jimmy G put his team in position for kicker Robbie Gould to kick five field goals in the game, allowing them to win by a score of 15–14.

Week 14 may end up being Garoppolo’s true coming out party, similar to his first start with the Patriots last season. The limited taste of Jimmy G in Weeks 12 and 13 left a positive impression on us, signaling that there is certainly more to come. As the win against the Bears demonstrated, the 49ers are now indiscernibly competing on a higher level with Garoppolo under center. It should be an exciting game to see the potential continued growth of Jimmy G into a great quarterback.