Colin Cowherd, Jason Whitlock and 2018 Hall-of-Fame inductee Ray Lewis discussed former 49ers great Joe Montana's comments regarding current 49ers starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on FS1's "Speak For Yourself" Wednesday.
Montana joined NFL Network's Good Morning Football on Tuesday and made his stance clear. He feels that the hype is a little early.
"I think it's still a little early for it, myself," Montana said. "He's obviously had a lot more success in the games he's played in so far than the other quarterbacks that have been there recently.
"I think there's a lot of excitement in the Bay Area about it. I think this year will be a big tell on it. They paid a lot of money for him, but I think there's some belief there that he'll be there for a while."
Take a look at the video from GMF's Twitter account below:
"I think there's a lot of excitement in the Bay Area for him."@JoeMontana shares his thoughts on the start of the Jimmy G era with the @49ers pic.twitter.com/XuZ49B08CQ
— GMFB (@gmfb) April 10, 2018
Cowherd opens FS1's video by asking Whitlock, "Do you agree with Joe Montana?" Whitlock responds, "I do agree. I think Joe's take is reasonable, and I'm sure Ray will, you know, we're crowning these guys too early, but I'm ready to crown Jimmy Garoppolo."
Whitlock explains saying, "I've seen what he did in those five games last year, and the two games he got to play in New England. I'm ready to, Colin, I'm ready to crown him."
After more questioning by Cowherd, Whitlock followed by explaining, "I'm in the projection business. The guy deserves the crown."
Cowherd's response?
"Well, get your film projector and rewind it because this is a rebuilding franchise."
Cowherd talked about the Rams, Eagles, and Steelers' rosters being Super Bowl rosters as far as talent and personnel. Following that, he explained that the 49ers should be "overjoyed with their progress" if they went 8-8 in 2018.
A little more discussion went on before Lewis spoke up. He talked about his viewpoint on Montana's take and then exclaimed:
"I think Jimmy G is special."
"I do. I've watched him enough to think he has that 'it factor,' right? From the quarterback position- his knowledge of the game, his understanding of defensive coverages, the moment something moves, the moment something don't look right- he can adjust. And just his leg and his durability to get out of the pocket is absolutely amazing."
Lewis followed that up by tempering expectations about the talent around Garoppolo.
"But when you talk about a team that doesn't have the team to go back and compete in the NFC. Right now, in the NFC, San Francisco might be 15th and 16th. Right? When you think about competing for, right, personnel-wise."
"If you're still sitting at home watching the playoffs, great job," Lewis continued.
The consensus amongst Cowherd and Lewis was that we should all give Garoppolo time. Essentially, they agreed with Montana.
Garoppolo and the 49ers' five-game win streak was unprecedented. After starting 2017 with a 1-9 record, the Niners won six games. That total is double the best win total a team has produced after beginning 1-9. Now, the Niners look to replicate the 1981 49ers, joining them by winning a Super Bowl after finishing the previous season 6-10.
