SF 49ers: 4 questions Jimmy Garoppolo must answer if he returns

There’s still a good chance the SF 49ers stay with Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback in 2021, yet he’ll have some serious questions to answer.

Once the SF 49ers “missed out” on soon-to-be former Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who’ll instead be going to the LA Rams once the league’s new year starts in March, the chances of Jimmy Garoppolo remaining as the Niners’ chief signal-caller in 2021 increased dramatically.

Sure, San Francisco could still make some quarterbacking changes this offseason. There are NFL Draft options, and it’s likely head coach Kyle Shanahan will want to revamp the depth behind Garoppolo in 2021 anyway.

But with the extreme cost of what it would take to trade for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, the seemingly most-probable scenario is Garoppolo staying put.

At least for now.

It’s unclear where Garoppolo is at, mentally, in the wake of yet another year of controversy and speculation. Yet even with his increased odds of a team return this season, he’ll still have some major questions to answer between now and when he takes the field.

No. 4: Can Jimmy Garoppolo stay healthy?

If Garoppolo was a fully league-elite quarterback, there still would be some serious questions about his future based on his recent injury history.

Granted, it’s hard to blame players for being injured. But it’s just as big a part of the game as on-field production, and Garoppolo hasn’t exactly established himself as a durable part of Shanahan’s offense.

In 2018, of course, Garoppolo missed all but three games with a torn ACL, which ultimately resulted in the SF 49ers going 4-12 the year before their Super Bowl run. That might have been an outlier case, but Garoppolo’s two high-ankle sprains suffered in 2020 didn’t help that reputation of being injury-prone whatsoever.

As such, stemming from Garoppolo’s Week 2 ankle sprain, he managed to appear in just six games over the course of last season. And even after he returned from the first injury setback, perhaps prematurely, it was evident his throws lacked the zip and accuracy mainly stemming from his inability to properly plant on his injured ankle.

Fair or not, Jimmy G’s health could be a massive factor in determining whether or not the Niners elect to commit to him for the long run or elect to explore other options.