Jimmy Garoppolo can hit a milestone on Sunday against the Washington Redskins. It will be the San Francisco 49ers quarterback's 16th NFL start. That's right, in his sixth year in the league, he will finally have played in a season's worth of games.
The 49ers were hoping that milestone would come last year along with a lot more experience, but Garoppolo's season was cut short by an ACL injury. So now, he is just one game away from start No. 16.
Garoppolo is an impressive 13-2 as a starter throughout his NFL career. That includes an 11-2 record as a starter with San Francisco.
The 49ers sent a second-round pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for Garoppolo at the trade deadline in 2017, and the quarterback started the final five games of that season, winning each of them. Of course, that impressive run was after the team had already gone 1-10.
While Garoppolo's 2017 squad went 5-0 at the end of the season with him as the starter, the 2019 49ers have gone 5-0 at the start of this season and remain one of just two undefeated NFL teams.
How does Garoppolo compare this year's team to that 2017 one that ended the season with a bang?
"That 2017 was kind of a lot of things coming together at once, all of a sudden, at the end," Garoppolo said after the 49ers' 20-7 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. "We put in a lot of work in the offseason. Guys dedicated a lot to this, given up a lot for this, and it's starting to show out there. Just proud of the guys, and we've got a long way to go."
Garoppolo became the eighth quarterback during the Super Bowl era to win 13 of his first 15 career starts. He has completed 102-of-146 attempts (69.9 percent) for 1,163 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions through his five starts this season.
| Most QB Wins Through 15 Career Starts |
Super Bowl Era
PlayerWins1.Ben Roethlisberger, Pit.152.Roger Staubach, Dal.143t.Jimmy Garoppolo, NE/SF13
Dan Marino, Mia.13
Dak Prescott, Dal.13
Philip Rivers, SD13
Mike Tomczak, Chi.13
Kurt Warner, StL13
