Tough questions the 49ers have to ask going into the 2019 season

Is Jimmy Garoppolo a franchise quarterback?

I want the record to show I intended to write about this question before Monday night’s preseason game against the Denver Broncos. Although that game does make asking it all the more necessary.

Ah, Jimmy Garoppolo. The most handsome man in football. No one doubts that. But when it comes to his ability on the field, it has to be asked: Is he a franchise quarterback?

The Niners are certainly paying him like one. But his performance on the field certainly leaves room for doubt. When Garoppolo was initially traded to San Francisco, he came out hot, winning five straight games to end the 2017 season. He then looked OK in the first three games of the 2018 season before tearing his ACL.

In all honesty, there isn’t enough game tape out there to know Garoppolo’s ceiling.

But there are plenty of signs which can be looked at to try to answer the question. First, to address the elephant in the room, there is Monday Night Football’s performance against the Broncos. It wasn’t pretty.

That performance is what one in the business calls bad. In fact, it was worse than bad. It was absolutely horrible. Jimmy G played three drives, had two passes batted down, one intercepted, one that should have been intercepted, one where he completely overthrew his receiver and then a screen pass that netted zero yards. Zero.

However, it was Garoppolo’s first time back in a game since tearing his ACL. So hopefully, a lot of that performance can be attributed to rust. The other part can ideally be attributed to offensive line play, which was horrible Monday night. That was due in large part to injuries to two of the 49ers’ starting O-linemen, right guard Mike Person and center Weston Richburg, who will ideally be ready for Week 1.

So hopefully, the two factors which caused that performance, rust and bad o-line play, will be gone by the beginning of the regular season.

But, what if there’s more. What if Garoppolo simply can’t be a franchise quarterback.

More information on this can be discerned by examining Garoppolo’s past with the New England Patriots. Most people in the know say he was drafted to be the replacement to future Hall of Famer Tom Brady. This is a huge positive endorsement for Garoppolo. Bill Belichick, arguably the greatest head coach ever, drafted him to replace Brady, the best quarterback ever.

But then, Belichick traded Garoppolo to San Francisco. This seems to be a sign Belichick thought Garoppolo didn’t have what it takes to be a true NFL franchise quarterback. After all, why else would he trade him?

Although, there is some news which helps Garoppolo in regards to this trade. After the trade happened, there were reports Belichick wanted to keep Garoppolo, but Brady and Patriots owner Robert Kraft forced him to trade him.

If these reports are true, that would be a huge endorsement for Garoppolo. But all in all, the question won’t truly be answered until he performs up to expectations in a regular season game.