San Francisco 49ers: 5 key storylines to watch in 2020 offseason
By Peter Panacy
No. 1: Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s Development in 2020
What happened in the playoffs, especially during the waning minutes of Super Bowl LIV, overshadowed what was otherwise a very solid 2019 campaign from Jimmy Garoppolo.
After all, amid a season when the 49ers wide receiver corps was questionable for the first half of the year, Jimmy G still managed to cement himself in the franchise’s record books, passing for 3,978 total yards, which ranks forth best in team history.
San Francisco 49ers
It’s important to note Garoppolo still doesn’t have a ton of starter experience at the NFL level, having started only 26 games at the pro level, which is fewer than the 31 pro starts made by the quarterback who beat him in the Super Bowl, Patrick Mahomes.
A key element and storyline to watch here is how Garoppolo winds up performing in his second full year under Kyle Shanahan. 2018 was supposed to be the first full year, but those hopes were entirely dashed by Garoppolo’s season-ending ACL tear in Week 3. Instead of physically mastering Shanahan’s complex offense, Jimmy G was forced to spend much of the subsequent year in recovery.
One comparison can be found with another one of Shanahan’s quarterbacks, the Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Ryan, who owned an 89.0 passer rating his first year under Shanahan, as Atlanta’s offensive coordinator, before posting a league-leading 117.1 rating en route to a league MVP nod the following year.
This isn’t to say Garoppolo is on the exact same trajectory. But it does lend to the idea San Francisco’s quarterback could be much, much better in 2020 than he was last year.
Next. 49ers would have won Super Bowl 54 if they did these 3 things. dark
And while the 49ers start their work in offseason programs, fans and analysts alike will wonder just how far Garoppolo will come along after a disappointing finish to his 2019 campaign.