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Jimmy Garoppolo is without a doubt one of the San Francisco 49ers' two most successful quarterbacks of the 21st century, alongside Colin Kaepernick.
Since arriving in 2017 via a trade from the New England Patriots, he revitalized a franchise that had been run to the ground by poor coaching and management, taking the team to two NFC Championship Games, including a Super Bowl appearance in 2019-20.
But in 2021, the 49ers, after a regression the season prior, began to plan for the future, drafting wunderkind Trey Lance with the goal of him eventually replacing Garoppolo as a starter by his sophomore year. But a season-ending ankle injury to Lance derailed those plans.
Jimmy Garoppolo reflects on leaving the San Francisco 49ers
As a result, the 49ers initially struggled, going 3-4, but they won their last 10 games after Jimmy Garoppolo regained his elite form. He suffered a foot injury in Week 13, but "Mr. Irrelevant" Brock Purdy stepped in and began one of the greatest stretches a quarterback has ever had, winning his next four starts and giving the franchise its third NFC Championship Game appearance in four seasons.
This led to a major positional headache, which the team initially resolved by allowing Garoppolo to leave for the Las Vegas Raiders. Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle, he revealed that hearing head coach Mike Shanahan say there was no space for him in Santa Clara was painful:
“Yeah, definitely. I didn’t see it, no, but someone probably texted me about it. I don’t know if I responded.”
He continued:
“I mean, we’re all people. You hear it, things like that. I just try to make the best of the situation. We’ve all been through hard things. In life, things are gonna happen that don’t go your way, and you’ve just got to make the best of it.
“As the quarterback of a team, there are a lot of guys looking at you in that huddle. So, you really can’t show that side of it. You’ve just got to go out there and ball. That’s the part that’s the hardest. But it’s part of the job.”
Is Jimmy Garoppolo a 49ers legend? Taking a closer look at QB's stats
Jimmy Garoppolo may not be considered a San Francisco 49ers legend at the moment, but his body of work is sufficient to warrant mention of him as one of the more reputable quarterbacks in franchise history.
By the end of his tenure in Santa Clara, he amassed the following statistics:
- 1,167 completions on 1,726 attempts (67.6%)
- 13,599 passing yards
- 82 touchdowns against 42 interceptions
- 99.2 passer rating
- 140 rushes
- 215 rushing yards
- 7 rushing touchdowns
Despite these stats and one Super Bowl appearance, he never made an All-Pro or Pro Bowl thanks to the presence of better quarterbacks in the league. However, he still deserves credit for turning around the franchise’s fortunes after its post-Kaepernick nadir.
Brock Purdy and Trey Lance may be the team’s two primary signal-callers now, but it was Garoppolo who set the stage for future success with either of them.
