Jimmy Garoppolo helped get the 49ers to the Super Bowl last year, but no one would contend that he carried them. He basically handed the ball off in the team's two NFC playoff wins, and his season-long numbers were nothing special. In standard scoring systems, he finished the year as the 14th-ranked fantasy quarterback, and was outside the top 20 on a per-game basis (among those who started at least half the season).
New left tackle Trent Williams is saying some nice things, at least. "I think Jimmy G is awesome," Williams said. "I think he has proven that he's a quarterback that you can win with. In this league, it's just hard to find."
Granted, Williams is going to say that kind of thing as he's introduced to a new team, and Garoppolo would look pretty good considering the level of quarterback play Washington has had since unwisely letting Kirk Cousins walk.
But at least with Garoppolo it can be said that in his first full season as a starter, he got better as the year went along.
In the first eight games last year, Garoppolo accounted for just 1,838 total yards. That ranked 22nd among quarterbacks, down behind the likes of Joe Flacco and slightly ahead of Jacoby Brissett and a few guys who didn't even play all of the first eight games (Daniel Jones, Teddy Bridgewater). The definition of a game manager.
But in the last eight games, Garoppolo got the chance to do a lot more. Over that stretch he put up 2,202 total yards, which was over 275 per game. That was a top-10 performance.
| QUARTERBACKS, LAST EIGHT GAMES, 2019 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pass | TDP | Run | TDR | Tot |
| Jameis Winston, T.B. | 2,702 | 17 | 151 | 1 | 2,853 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | 2,522 | 15 | 102 | 0 | 2,624 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick, Mia. | 2,334 | 12 | 192 | 3 | 2,526 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 2,296 | 11 | 83 | 0 | 2,379 |
| Carson Wentz, Phil. | 2,218 | 13 | 114 | 0 | 2,332 |
| Philip Rivers, LAC | 2,300 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 2,305 |
| Jared Goff, LAR | 2,271 | 11 | 24 | 0 | 2,295 |
| Ryan Tannehill, Ten. | 2,093 | 17 | 177 | 4 | 2,270 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo, S.F. | 2,172 | 14 | 30 | 0 | 2,202 |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 2,198 | 22 | -4 | 1 | 2,194 |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 1,983 | 14 | 160 | 0 | 2,143 |
| Kyle Allen, Car. | 2,031 | 8 | 104 | 2 | 2,135 |
| Derek Carr, Oak. | 2,070 | 8 | 55 | 2 | 2,125 |
| Mitchell Trubisky, Chi. | 1,921 | 12 | 147 | 2 | 2,068 |
| Sam Darnold, NYJ | 1,947 | 13 | 62 | 2 | 2,009 |
| Kyler Murray, Ariz. | 1,734 | 13 | 265 | 2 | 1,999 |
| Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 1,851 | 11 | 136 | 2 | 1,987 |
| Baker Mayfield, Cle. | 1,864 | 15 | 66 | 2 | 1,930 |
| Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 1,314 | 24 | 569 | 2 | 1,883 |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 1,806 | 11 | 31 | 0 | 1,837 |
| Deshaun Watson, Hou. | 1,621 | 10 | 171 | 3 | 1,792 |
| Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 1,678 | 10 | 86 | 0 | 1,764 |
| Daniel Jones, NYG | 1,561 | 14 | 145 | 0 | 1,706 |
| Josh Allen, Buff. | 1,436 | 10 | 263 | 5 | 1,699 |
| Kirk Cousins, Min. | 1,606 | 13 | 24 | 0 | 1,630 |
| Gardner Minshew, Jac. | 1,295 | 8 | 143 | 0 | 1,438 |
| Jacoby Brissett, Ind. | 1,293 | 4 | 118 | 3 | 1,411 |
| Dwayne Haskins, Was. | 1,225 | 7 | 78 | 0 | 1,303 |
| Andy Dalton, Cin. | 1,242 | 7 | 18 | 1 | 1,260 |
| Drew Lock, Den. | 1,020 | 7 | 72 | 0 | 1,092 |
| David Blough, Det. | 984 | 4 | 31 | 1 | 1,015 |
Some of that was no doubt opponents focusing on San Francisco's ground game, and that will be a focus in 2020 -- slow down the run, make Garoppolo win games. Didn't happen in the Super Bowl, but it did for a lot of the second half of the season. With a couple of nice offensive pieces (George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and some combination of Jalen Hurd and top pick Brandon Aiyuk) there's potential for Garoppolo to be a fantasy factor in 2020, too.
I'm not sure I'd be confident drafting him as a starter, but as a quality No. 2 with spot-start potential, I think there's upside with him.
--Andy Richardson