Jimmy Garoppolo has a lot to prove this season. Nearly a year removed from a torn ACL, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback has to prove that he is healthy, and he has to verify that the team's trust in him is justified.
The 49ers gave Garoppolo top dollar last offseason, signing the quarterback to a then-record deal. Although, over a year later, it has been eclipsed multiple times with the latest being a $134 million mega-deal with $110 million guaranteed for Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff.
Goff will be working to prove he was worth his new deal and Garoppolo will be doing the same. His first opportunity to do so was halted by the Week 3 injury last year. Garoppolo's first opportunity in 2019 will come on Sunday when the 49ers kick off the regular season with a visit to Tampa, Florida to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Two ESPN writers, Dan Graziano and Field Yates, are expecting Garoppolo to have a good 2019 debut. Dan Graziano picked the 49ers quarterback to be the one player from Week 1 everyone is talking about on Monday.
"Slow preseason notwithstanding, the Week 1 matchup against the Buccaneers is a nice, soft landing for his return from injury," wrote Graziano in a prediction feature for ESPN. "It's a big year for coach Kyle Shanahan and Jimmy G in San Francisco, and I say it gets off to a quick start."
For fantasy football junkies, Yates believes Garoppolo's performance will be so good against the Buccaneers defense that you should start the 49ers quarterback in Week 1.
"The 49ers-Bucs game feels likely to be a high-scoring affair," writes Yates, "as both teams have defensive holes to monitor going into the season. Garoppolo needs a good start to help fortify his confidence, and I suspect he'll get it against a Tampa defense that ranked near the bottom of the league in many major categories."
Click here to read the entire feature from ESPN.
