The quarterback turned ESPN analyst, Steve Young, said earlier this offseason that he wants to see more trust in San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo from his head coach, Kyle Shanahan. Now, that's not to say that Shanahan doesn't trust Garoppolo. In fact, the coach has repeatedly indicated otherwise all offseason.
Still, the playoffs created the perception that there was some hesitation on Shanahan's part to put a big game in Garoppolo's hands. Much of that was due to the massive success the 49ers had running the football against the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers.
Young wants to see Shanahan put more on Garoppolo's shoulders, and he wants to know the quarterback desires that responsibility. More important, Young wants Garoppolo to accept the challenge and prove his doubters wrong.
"In a way, Jimmy could break all the records if Kyle chose to put him in that spot," Young said on KNBR's Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks show. "Granted, we're running the ball so well, we don't necessarily have to. We proved that. That's OK. But I just want to make sure, and maybe I just want to double-check that those two trust each other, and Kyle's willing to put, week after week after week, Jimmy in a position to go win it.
"Look, he's done well. You're asking me, (Garoppolo as) a top-10 quarterback, top-12, 14 quarterback, 'How's he doing?' Well, that's pretty good.
"But now you're saying, 'How does he get better?' That's the pieces that need to get better — that you can see that every week, Kyle is saying, 'Jimmy, I'm going to call crazy plays. You protect me. You watch out for me.'"
Young went on to say that seeing that from Garoppolo will only benefit the team, especially in the playoffs. The 49ers can't necessarily expect to dominate opponents on the way to the Super Bowl the same way they did last season.
That means putting the football in Garoppolo's hands during those moments.
"And Jimmy responds to it, and goes to the Pro Bowl (or is selected to one), and takes them to the Super Bowl, and wins it," Young added. "That's what's left, and he can do that. So, that's what we're going to be watching for, really, first series of the first game. We want to just see that starting to unfold."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Young below.