San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch was fairly blunt when talking about quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in January.
"As for the quarterback position, Kyle (Shanahan) and I both have spoken, and spoken fairly directly as to the fact that we expect Jimmy to be our quarterback," Lynch told reporters during an end-of-season press conference. "That's consistently met with other stories, but that's not of concern to us."
That hasn't stopped a significant amount of speculation surrounding the quarterback's future. The 49ers have been linked to nearly every quarterback trade rumor. They reportedly inquired about Matthew Stafford and Carson Wentz, but there is no evidence that it was anything more than the team doing its due diligence.
Many assume San Francisco will look into upgrading at quarterback, especially if Deshaun Watson becomes available. So Clark Judge and Ira Kaufman of the Eye Test for Two podcast went straight to the source — Lynch — for answers.
The 49ers general manager was asked if there is any doubt that Garoppolo is the team's quarterback in September, should he be injury-free.
"No," Lynch immediately responded. "Not at all. I really believe that. Just look at the numbers. He's [24-9] when he's played."
Lynch admits that injuries are a concern. Garoppolo has missed 23 games over the past three seasons, after all. But the entire team was plagued by injuries this past season. Lynch says the 49ers have taken "a hard look at what we can do to control those injuries."
"Though, being available is a big part of this thing," Lynch continued. "So, like I said, we probably, as a stated goal, we have to insulate ourselves better, and we have to have better options if he's not there."
Garoppolo has started one full season in his career. That came in 2019 as part of a 49ers team that reached the Super Bowl but fell just short of a championship. That success appears to be enough to make Lynch and company confident in Garoppolo's ability to get them back to that spot.
"I've watched people go through this in their careers where they struggled," Lynch shared. "It happened to me early, and then I went eight years without missing a practice. So, I believe that things can happen. I believe they will for him, and I really believe that Jimmy is our guy."
Added Lynch: "We are seriously looking forward to kind of rebooting our team and making a run at this thing next year. And I believe we've got what it takes to compete for a championship. We've got to add to it, we've got to improve, but I'm excited about that opportunity."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.