Niner Noise
FanSided

Power ranking the 49ers top 10 players entering 2019

By James Jones

George Kittle #85 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
George Kittle #85 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images) /
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KANSAS CITY, MO – SEPTEMBER 23: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers throws a quick pass to teammate Matt Breida #22 during the second quarter of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on September 23, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO – SEPTEMBER 23: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers throws a quick pass to teammate Matt Breida #22 during the second quarter of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on September 23, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /

No. 5: Jimmy Garoppolo

2018 was supposed to be the year Garoppolo would produce on a level that would place him at No. 1 on a list such as this.

One year and 13 missed games later, here we are.

Garoppolo started the first three games of the season last year. His play was not on par with the last five games of 2017, but then neither was the rest of the teams. After two up-and-down games against the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions, the 49ers traveled to Kansas City.

While the Chiefs lit up the scoreboard early and often, Garoppolo was in the midst of leading a comeback of sorts in the second half. Down 35-10 entering the third quarter he took the team on two touchdown drives to cut the score to 35-24 with 2:43 to play in the period.

Enter the fourth quarter, down 38-24 and the 49ers signal-caller was again leading the team on another long drive inside the Kansas City red zone.

We all know what happened next. Garoppolo, on a 3rd-and-goal, was flushed from the pocket and took off up the left sideline. The run and subsequent tackle resulted in a torn ACL, the 49ers lost the game and their season.

Before the injury, Garoppolo was 20-of-30 for 251 yards and two touchdowns. He was finding his footing in this game and it showed, as he was leading what could have been his third touchdown drive in three possessions.

Fast forward to now and he does not appear to be favoring the knee that failed him on that Sept. afternoon last year. He looked fluid on his dropbacks on day one of training camp and had some good zip on his passes:

I fully expect to place Garoppolo higher on this list when we revisit in after Week 4 of the regular season.