Garoppolo endured much scrutiny this offseason after a fourth-quarter collapse in the Super Bowl eliminated a lead over the Kansas City Chiefs. That followed two playoff performances where head coach Kyle Shanahan relied more on his No. 2 ranked rushing attack than his franchise quarterback. Much more.
"I like Jimmy Garoppolo a lot. There's no doubt about it," Simms recently told Laura Britt of NBC Sports when questioned about ranking the 49ers passer No. 20 this offseason among NFL quarterbacks (h/t to Ali Thanawalla of NBC Sports), "... With Jimmy Garoppolo, I like his talents, certainly, but I do look at a lot of his success that he had last year.
"And again, I'm not trying to take (away) credit for him, but also ... he's got a special play-caller, serving up a lot of plays for him on what I call a silver platter. Like 'Hey Jimmy, if you can just look this way, there's going to be a guy open for a 20-yard gain, all you gotta do is put it somewhere near him.'
"And because of that, maybe do I dock Jimmy Garoppolo for that? Yeah, I think offensive football is made a little bit easier for him than maybe some other quarterbacks. He has the type of talent and ability to be a top-10 quarterback."
The relentless criticisms didn't stop despite and seemed to overlook Garoppolo passing for 3,978 yards with 27 touchdowns, winning 13 games, and a division crown in his first full NFL season as a starter. The passing-yard total ranked fourth all-time in franchise history, behind only two players — Steve Young and Jeff Garcia.
"I think you know what scares me," Simms continued. "What I saw in the playoffs, some other shaky moments during the regular season. I just want to see him take a next step.
"And I guess the thing I need to see is, if the Shanahan tricks and run game aren't working for two or three weeks, can Jimmy Garoppolo carry the squad or be the band-aid at the quarterback position to be like, 'Hey guys, jump on my back. I got it.' And that's where I'm not quite sure, totally sold yet."
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