3 things Jimmy Garoppolo needs to do to retain 49ers starting QB job
By Peter Panacy
No. 1: Jimmy Garoppolo must stay healthy
Let’s not sugarcoat it: Jimmy Garoppolo will lose the starting job to Trey Lance if he can’t stay on the field.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters shortly after the spring trade-up for Lance that the prime reason San Francisco made the move was because of Garoppolo’s injury history.
One which includes all but three games missed in 2018 because of an ACL tear, then missing an additional 10 games in 2020 with multiple ankle injuries.
In both seasons, the 49ers plummeted to 10-loss seasons in the wake of having to use three different quarterbacks. This season, should Garoppolo suffer yet another injury, the Niners will essentially be forced into starting Lance.
And that could be the end of Jimmy G’s run in San Francisco.
Not unlike how former 49ers quarterback Alex Smith lost his starting job in 2012 to an up-and-coming Colin Kaepernick, Garoppolo is now facing a very real situation where the context might be out of his control, at least with regards to injuries, but the outcome could ultimately be a determining factor.
It’s simple: If Garoppolo wants to start, he has to be on the field.