49ers’ 5 most important offensive players in 2019
By Peter Panacy
No. 1: Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo
If your team has a franchise-caliber quarterback, you have a chance to be competitive and make the playoffs. If not, your team is stuck in a rebuild. It’s that simple.
Fortunately, the 49ers feel as if they have that guy, Jimmy Garoppolo, whose 2018 ACL tear essentially ended the Niners campaign before it ever had a chance to get rolling. It’s anyone’s guess what the team’s record would have been if Garoppolo had stayed healthy, although it’s hard to argue it would have been better.
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Entering his third season with San Francisco, Garoppolo is going to feel the pressure. For starters, he’ll need to start justifying the once record-setting five-year, $137.5 million deal the 49ers gave him early in 2018. On top of that, all those offseason additions to the offense are intended to make Garoppolo’s abilities all the more potent.
Lastly, and most importantly, it’s time the 49ers start winning games after two sub-.500 seasons with Kyle Shanahan at the helm.
If Garoppolo struggles, there will be more question marks the following offseason than answers. If he thrives, however, the Niners will certainly appear to be well on their way to regular playoff contention for the foreseeable future.
Next. Redrafting the 49ers' 2017 NFL Draft class two years later. dark
That pretty much defines the level of importance on Garoppolo’s shoulders entering 2019.