Jimmy Garoppolo: 3 ways 49ers QB can improve his numbers in 2020

No. 1: Just keep playing and developing

Starts: 19.

Wins: 15.

Losses: not enough to worry about.

Jimmy Garoppolo’s first full season under center went better than most expected. He raked up 15 wins, including the playoffs, and lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl. The last time the 49ers made the big game, quarterbacks Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick were starting for the red and gold.

Let’s look at some other 49ers quarterbacks’ first seasons in the Bay Area.

In the year 2000, quarterback Jeff Garcia won only six games while throwing for over 4,000 yards and 31 touchdowns. The Niners finished fourth in the division and missed the playoffs. The next two years with Garcia as the leader, the 49ers racked up 22 wins and never made it to the Super Bowl.

In Steve Young’s first year in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he only won two games. In his first full 16-game season with the 49ers, he rattled off 14 wins, just under 3,500 yards and took his team to the NFC Championship game. In his next two seasons, he led the Niners to another NFC Championship appearance and, in 1994, helped win the franchise’s fifth Super Bowl title.

The man they call “Joe Cool,” Joe Montana, won 13 games in 1981. He tossed the pigskin for 3,565 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. It was a very special season, as Montana lead the 49ers to their first-ever Super Bowl title. Only three years later did Montana and the 49ers win the Super Bowl again in 1984.

Losing the Super Bowl is tough. In the world of social media, we’re quick to pounce on players through tweets and comments. But listen… Garoppolo is still a young player. He came off a year of recovering from an ACL injury while learning an extremely complicated offense run by Kyle Shanahan.

The best way for Garoppolo to improve not only his numbers, but his game as a whole, is to just play. We’ve seen what he can do in numerous situations. He had four game-winning comebacks, threw for nearly 4,000 yards on the season and also has the Week 14 NFC Player of the Week award in his back pocket.

Besides not winning the Super Bowl as a starter yet, he still had one of the best first seasons in red and gold. He needs time to continue forming chemistry with his offense.

Imagine what another full year can do for the guy.

As the saying goes, “it’s tough to make it back to the Super Bowl.” But when you have Jimmy Garoppolo leading the way, it won’t be a matter of “if they make it back,” rather “when they make it back.”