1. QB Jimmy Garoppolo
In 2017, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo changed the San Francisco 49ers’ franchise.
Garoppolo was handed the reigns of a hopeless one-win team and promptly rattled off five straight victories, including three straight wins over playoff-bound teams. Garoppolo put points on the scoreboard, provided leadership on and off the field and gave the 49ers’ fan base exactly what it needed — hope for the future.
After the season, the San Francisco 49ers gave Garoppolo a five-year contract that briefly made the quarterback the highest-paid player in the NFL.
While the 2017 Niners weren’t as bad as their pre-Garoppolo record suggests, a future that included the playoffs was a distant fantasy for the team last November. But over the last five weeks of the season, Garoppolo transformed the 49ers from a team competing for 2018’s top overall draft pick into a potential 2018 playoff contender.
Next: NFL: Predicting each division winner for 2018
Led by the team’s most important player for 2018 — quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo — each of these 25 players will play essential roles in the San Francisco 49ers’ success this season.