3 burning questions for 49ers quarterbacks in 2020
By Peter Panacy
Will Jimmy Garoppolo be better for the 49ers in 2020? And what should we make of the backup situation this season? Questions abound!
In all reality, the San Francisco 49ers received some excellent quarterbacking play from their starter, Jimmy Garoppolo, in 2020.
His first full year as a starter, Garoppolo was a big reason why head coach Kyle Shanahan’s squad finished the regular season 13-3, secured the NFC West, earned the conference’s top seed and made it all the way to within 10 minutes of a victory in Super Bowl LIV.
That said, Garoppolo’s fourth-quarter collapse in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs is what caught national pundits’ attention, sparking debate whether or not the Niners would be better off without him.
Granted, those key moments late in the clutch are what you’d expect a $137.5 million quarterback like Garoppolo to thrive in.
He didn’t, and there’s no easy way to get around it.
Still, Garoppolo is entrenched as the starter even though he comes with question marks entering 2020. But one could argue the question marks at quarterback are even more interesting behind him on the 49ers depth chart, which includes the following names:
- Jimmy Garoppolo
- Nick Mullens
- C.J. Beathard
- Broc Rutter
Last year, Shanahan elected to keep three quarterbacks — Garoppolo, Mullens and Beathard — on his 53-man roster, letting Beathard remain on the weekly inactive list.
The decision ultimately hindered the team’s ability to deal with the multitude of injuries it suffered over the course of 2019, prompting the idea Shanahan could stick with two quarterbacks instead heading into 2020.
That’s one of a number of burning questions Shanahan and Co. will have to consider when looking at the quarterback room this upcoming season.