San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was thrown into a situation where he had to quickly learn a complicated playbook after the team traded for him at last year's mid-season point. Despite the circumstances, he flourished last season when thrust into the starting quarterback role.
Garoppolo led the 49ers to an undefeated December, winning each of the team's final five games of the season. San Francisco rewarded him in February with a five-year deal worth up to $137.5 million. At the time, it was the richest deal in NFL history.
Garoppolo finally has an opportunity to learn Kyle Shanahan's offense at a more reasonable pace and has been working hard to do so this offseason. Shanahan was asked at the 49ers' State of the Franchise event on Wednesday night how much of a leap the quarterback can make in 2018 with a full offseason under his belt.
"He played pretty good in those five games," Shanahan said. "Being a successful quarterback in this league is about sustained success. Jimmy's had seven games (five starts with the 49ers and two with the New England Patriots), and he's played very good in all seven of those games.
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"I think we all know, eventually, there won't be a good one. Hopefully, that won't be for a long time but Jimmy's really worked this offseason. It's been great so far. We've still got about a month together before we break away for a month.
"He's done everything possible, and it's been very impressive with how far he's come with just the terminology of the offense, understanding the whys, not just trying to survive to get to Sunday so he has a chance. He really knows it, and it's helped him kind of take more ownership. It helps him communicate with other players in the right way where he and other guys can get on the same page.
"When you're just getting a crash course in everything it's -- he communicates well with the guys, but it's hard to know everything. Jimmy's got an extremely good foundation now, and I think you'll see those results as it comes."
