There is a significant amount of hype surrounding the San Francisco 49ers' $137.5 million quarterback. You can count Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd among those who believes Jimmy Garoppolo will have a bright NFL future.
During a segment on The Herd, Cowherd named Garoppolo among the seven quarterbacks he believes will dominate the NFL for the next decade. The others on the list are Andrew Luck, Carson Wentz, Russell Wilson, Sam Darnold, Aaron Rodgers, and Derek Carr.
Darnold, who is expected to be selected as a top pick in next month's draft, is the only quarterback on the list who has not yet thrown an NFL pass. Rodgers is the most seasoned veteran on the list and is a player Cowherd believes has another six years of NFL play left in him.
"Aaron will not play for 10 years but I imagine six or seven, and he'll win a Super Bowl or two, potentially," he said.
Cowherd's list speculates on which quarterbacks will be the elite NFL names once marquee players like Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Ben Roethlisberger retire.
"Now this is 10 years, so Brady will be gone, Brees will be gone, Big Ben will be gone," Cowherd said. "These are franchise guys, and I'll call my shot right here. In the next decade, these seven quarterbacks will dominate the league."
Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans is not on the list, which Cowherd attributes to the quarterback's injury history. Also noticeably absent are young players like Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams and Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys.
"Now I didn't put Deshaun Watson in because he's had two ACLs," Cowherd said. "One at Clemson, one in Houston. If he gets another, he's not the same player."
You can watch and listen to Cowherd explain the reasoning behind his selections below.