The San Francisco 49ers paid a hefty price to make Jimmy Garoppolo their franchise quarterback. It was disheartening for coaches, teammates, and fans to watch him go down with a torn ACL during Week 3 after a hype-filled offseason.
Barring a setback in his recovery, Garoppolo will be the starting quarterback when the 49ers take the field during Week 1 of the 2019 season. Head coach Kyle Shanahan, who joined 95.7 The Game on Friday night, isn't looking that far into the future just yet. He still has two games left to finish out this season, and hopes to help his starting quarterback, Nick Mullens, who, until November, was on the practice squad, not embarrass himself.
Mullens, an undrafted free agent in 2017, has been doing an admirable job in his six starts. He has been impressive enough to solidify himself as Garoppolo's backup next year. Although, Shanahan insists the job will not be handed to him. Mullens will need to compete with last year's third-round draft pick, C.J. Beathard.
The 49ers signed Garoppolo in February to a five-year deal worth up to $137.5 million. Mullens is earning just under $400,000 this season and has already won three games in his six starts.
$137.5 million is a lot of money, even by NFL salary cap standards. Does San Francisco have any buyer's remorse with Garoppolo?
"No, of course not," Shanahan told Damon Bruce. "It's unfortunate when someone tears an ACL. Jimmy has stayed healthy his whole career. It was a freak thing, and it is what it is. Fortunately, for a quarterback, you don't worry much about ACLs. I just hope he comes back sooner than later. It's going well, and I think he'll be good to go by the time we get to OTAs. At least dropping back and throwing."
Organized team activities (OTAs) typically kick off in late May and last through early June. That would put Garoppolo's return to (a light) practice at about eight months, which is on par with a typical ACL rehab.
Shanahan can see the potential in Garoppolo, who did not see many opportunities to start during his time in New England. He was, after all, sitting behind a future Hall of Fame quarterback who continues to play at age 41.
Shanahan, who was the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns in 2014, did his homework on Garoppolo when the quarterback was coming out of Eastern Illinois. Shanahan and general manager John Lynch did their homework again when they took on their respective jobs in San Francisco, fully aware that they would have to find a franchise quarterback somewhere.
"Jimmy is very talented," Shanahan continued. "He hasn't played in a lot of games. I loved him coming out of college, the two-and-a-half or three games he played in at New England. We didn't really know. We saw him at practice, which we knew he was just like advertised — extremely talented."
Garoppolo kind of landed in the laps of Shanahan and Lynch. They never expected to acquire him. In fact, the two had already been shot down by the Patriots when they came asking about him before the 2017 draft. That's why Bill Belichick's call in late October of last season came as such a surprise. He called to see if the 49ers were still interested.
Just over a month later, Garoppolo was taking the field as the 49ers' new starting quarterback.
No one was sure what to expect out of Garoppolo, who had just gone through a crash course learning the playbook and knew just enough not to embarrass himself.
Garoppolo went on to reel off five consecutive victories, which Shanahan didn't even expect.
"And then we threw him in a situation last year that I personally didn't think he any chance to do well in," Shanahan said. "Nick Mullens, he at least has been here and studied our offense for two years (before starting). Jimmy was thrown into that Chicago game last year, didn't really know where people were, and still made some unbelievable plays. And he did it for five weeks straight.
"Anyone can get lucky for two weeks but to do it five weeks in a row? And with the talent he has in his arm, and what he did against a number of different defenses, we've got a real quarterback here. A very talented quarterback who's going to only get better the more he plays."
While he'd much rather be on the football field, injury has given Garoppolo even more time to master the playbook. He continues to sit, watch, and study, just as he was asked to do during that first whirlwind month with the 49ers.
"That's why I'm excited for him because he isn't a finished product by any means," Shanahan added. "He hasn't played a ton of football, but I know for sure we've got a good one."
You can listen to the entire interview with Shanahan below.
