Our fans have been choosing an MVP on an annual basis since just after the 1998 season when quarterback Steve Young became the first player to win the honor. Since then, three other quarterbacks have won over the years. They were Jeff Garcia (2000, 2001), Shaun Hill (2008), and Colin Kaepernick (2012).
Why so much discussion about the quarterbacks who have won the award over the past two decades? Because another one has earned the honor for 2017 and he wasn't even on the roster when the season kicked off.
Without further ado, here is this year's MVP, as voted by the fans.
2017 MVP: Jimmy Garoppolo
When the 49ers traded for Jimmy Garoppolo on October 30, it wasn't yet known what kind of impact he would have on the team's 2017 season. An injury to then-starting quarterback C.J. Beathard forced Garoppolo to play in the closing moments of a Week 12 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Garoppolo completed both of his pass attempts for 18 yards and a touchdown in front of an excited Levi's Stadium home crowd.
Beathard's injury forced Garoppolo into the starting quarterback role the next week against the Chicago Bears, and an impressive outing kept him in that role. Garoppolo helped the 49ers win their final five games of the season, which started with two consecutive road games and then finished with three matchups against playoff teams.
Garoppolo completed 120 of his 178 pass attempts for 1,560 yards, seven touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 96.2 during his five starts and six game appearances with the 49ers this season.
Is a player who was with the team for only half of the season and started only a handful of games worthy of being named the MVP for the year? Fans think so. Garoppolo, who is now 7-0 as a starter over the past two seasons, didn't just win football games, he evaluated the entire offense around him.
Nick Wagoner of ESPN recently compared the following offensive statistics pre- (Weeks 1-12) and post-Garoppolo (Weeks 13-17) and the improvement is impressive.
| WEEKS 1-12 | WEEKS 13-17 | |
| Offensive yards/game (NFL rank) | 321.7 (21st) | 410.0 (3rd) |
| Points/game | 17.0 (28th) | 28.8 (5th) |
| Yards/play | 4.9 (24th) | 6.1 (4th) |
| Passing yards/game | 221.8 (17th) | 297 (3rd) |
| Passing yards/att. | 5.66 (29th) | 8.44 (1st) |
| Completion percentage | 56.6 (31st) | 67 (6th) |
| Passer rating | 72.6 (31st) | 94.0 (11th) |
| Total QBR | 32.4 (28th) | 80.0 (1st) |
| Rushing yards/game | 99.9 (23rd) | 113.0 (16th) |
| 3rd-down conversion percentage | 34.1 (26th) | 50.0 (3rd) |
| Offensive efficiency | 20.88 (31st) | 70.53 (4th) |
| First downs/game | 18.5 (T-22nd) | 23.4 (2nd) |
| Time of possession | 27:36 (31st) | 32:54 (3rd) |
| Defensive yards allowed/game | 374.2 (28th) | 301.8 (7th) |
| Defensive yards allowed/play | 5.41 (18th) | 4.96 (9th) |
| Points allowed/game | 25.82 (28th) | 19.8 (T-9th) |
Garoppolo earned an overwhelming 63-percent of the votes from fans for team MVP. The next closest player was wide receiver Marquise Goodwin with just over 13-percent of the votes.
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