Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
This week, San Francisco 49ers quarterback
Jimmy Garoppolo said
he might seek advice from Green Bay Packers quarterback
Aaron Rodgers regarding his situation. Like so many veteran quarterbacks, Rodgers is fighting time and has a young quarterback, Jordan Love, waiting in the wings.
Garoppolo is in a similar situation. He is the undisputed starter in Santa Clara, but the future belongs to rookie
Trey Lance, the team's No. 3 overall pick.
"I know Aaron pretty well,"
Garoppolo said this week on
The Rich Eisen Show. "We've talked a couple of times on the field, off the field. Whatever little piece of advice he could give to me — obviously, it's worked out pretty well for him."
Garoppolo has been an admirer of Rodgers for some time. He remembers his time in New England, sitting with Tom Brady and breaking down Rodgers' play.
"I've [studied him] for a while now, since my New England days, honestly," Garoppolo told reporters before today's practice. "When I first came out in the draft, I was studying him pretty hard. He's one of my favorites just to watch and to go against. Just, whenever you can sneak a peek and just see what he's doing, the dude's unbelievable and can do some things with the ball that not many can."
One of Rodgers' traits that Garoppolo has studied is the Packers icon's quick release, something that the 49ers quarterback has worked hard to perfect himself.
"I think in this offense, it benefits you with the short passes that are kind of an extension of the run game," Garoppolo said. "He does a real good job with those, and he doesn't give the defense anything. He makes it difficult on you. He makes you cover the whole field with his arm. And the arm angles he can throw with, it makes it challenging on guys."
Garoppolo's head coach, Kyle Shanahan, is working hard with defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans this week to make sure Rodgers doesn't get into a rhythm on Sunday night against the 49ers.
"He's tough to do it [against]," Shanahan said. "You can't give him the freebies. You can't give him some easy completions. You've got to always watch the big plays. You'd love to keep him in the pocket, but even at his age, he's still got the skillset to get out there, and just with the flick of the wrist, he can cover about the whole field.
"You try your hardest to do it. He's been making people look bad for a long time. But yeah, if you let him get comfortable at all, I think everyone knows what that result is."
Of course, the 49ers inquired about Rodgers' availability right before the draft, when news broke about the rift between the quarterback and the Packers organization. Shanahan explained that the team was just doing its due diligence by reaching out.
"It didn't seem like it was worth the call, but I know how we would have felt if it was going to happen and that we didn't call," Shanahan explained. "You call them, and you get a quick answer [of 'no'], which is what you were expecting, then you move on."
Garoppolo, like many others, learned on social media that his team had reached out to Green Bay. However, he has been in the league long enough to understand how things work.
"That's just kind of how the offseason goes," Garoppolo shared. "Teams are always trying to look something new, something better. That's just kind of the nature of the beast, I guess."
Related News
San Francisco 49ers players aren't around their Santa Clara headquarters right now because the team is on its bye week. However, they will return next week to begin preparations for the Indianapolis Colts.
The off time is a good opportunity to listen to analysts like Greg Cosell, who joined KNBR today and shared his thoughts on rookie quarterback Trey Lance's first start this past weekend, a 17-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
What did the respected long-time analyst think of the 21-year-old's starting debut? Lance ran the football 16 times for 89 yards, which was a bit unexpected considering head coach Kyle Shanahan had said that fans could expect the rookie looking more like a quarterback and less like a running back in the game,
NFL legend Jerry Rice has witnessed a San Francisco 49ers quarterback transition before — but on a much grander scale. For him, it was watching one future Hall of Fame quarterback succeed another future Hall of Fame quarterback.
There is yet another transition taking place in Santa Clara, this time from Jimmy Garoppolo, a quarterback who helped guide the 49ers to a Super Bowl just two seasons ago, to rookie Trey Lance. The topic has been discussed at length. When should it happen? How should it happen?
Most of the quarterback discussion is done with an outside perspective. This week, Rice joined the 49ers Talk podcast to share the behind-the-scenes perspective and what a quarterback transition is like for players.
"It's kind of hard to
A lot is riding on the selection of Trey Lance. The future of the San Francisco 49ers — and likely head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch — depends on the rookie quarterback developing into an impact player.
The NFL Draft has seemingly been a crapshoot for the Niners. For every Nick Bosa, there is a Solomon Thomas or Reuben Foster. There have been George Kittles and Fred Warners. However, selections like Dante Pettis severely impact evaluations of recent draft classes. The jury is still out on last year's first-rounders, Javon Kinlaw and Brandon Aiyuk. The latter's lack of involvement this season has been baffling.
The 49ers have hit
The San Francisco 49ers have played five games this season. Their second-round draft pick, guard Aaron Banks, has been inactive for each of them. That has led many to question the selection. That's a high draft slot for a player who has yet to contribute this season.
Veteran center Alex Mack joined KNBR this morning and was asked about his rookie teammate. What does Banks need to do to get on the football field for the 49ers?
"Just keep putting the work in," Mack responded on the Murph & Mac show. "You know, he's a good dude. He works hard. He just has a couple of more things to learn and put the work in. And it's a credit to the other guards that it's not easy to break the starting lineup. We have a lot of depth here.
"Aaron is
