Jimmy Garoppolo: Top 4 takeaways after 2021 49ers OTAs
By Peter Panacy
Jimmy Garoppolo might be going through his last OTA sessions with the 49ers this year, yet there are some key takeaways from his efforts.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is on borrowed time with his current team.
He knows it, the Niners front office knows it and so does the rest of the league after San Francisco moved up to the No. 3 overall spot in this year’s NFL Draft to select North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance.
Whenever that transition from Jimmy G to Lance comes is anyone’s guess, and head coach Kyle Shanahan won’t hesitate to make the switch once he feels Lance gives the 49ers as good a chance to win games as Garoppolo right now.
All this could have created quite the headache during the Niners’ organized team activity sessions, which are voluntary. Garoppolo could have declined to attend while weighing his current options, yet the quarterback still elected to show up and embrace the competition with Lance.
That’s just one of a number of key takeaways from Jimmy G’s efforts during this year’s OTAs, which could be his last with San Francisco.
No. 4: Jimmy Garoppolo is embracing Trey Lance while competing with him
It would have been easy for Garoppolo to have demanded a trade or to shun the rookie, Lance, at the start of OTAs.
But all indications suggest otherwise, and Garoppolo even told FanSided what his plans are with the competition and how it’ll ultimately benefit both quarterbacks:
"In the quarterback room, it’s a relationship where you’re with each other every single day. The competition’s going to be high, but at the same time you want to push each other and that’s going to make you better and [Trey Lance] better at the same time."
This stands in contrast to the rift between other veteran signal-callers out there in danger of being replaced, let’s say the Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers with another first-round draft pick, Jordan Love.
True, that situation is different entirely, Garoppolo appears to be embracing the mentoring role while also making sure he doesn’t just hand off the starting job to Lance so easily.