3 questions Jimmy Garoppolo left us in 49ers loss to Colts

No. 1: Has Jimmy Garoppolo started his last game with 49ers?

The 49ers are 2-4 and are in desperate need of a jolt. Something. Anything.

Kyle Shanahan still has one major card to play this season to salvage the year: start Trey Lance. And while it’s always the popular choice to go with a high-profile backup quarterback when things aren’t working so well with a starter, in the Niners’ case, it might be the only option left.

Shanahan ho-hummed a postgame question about whether or not Garoppolo would remain the team’s starting signal-caller when San Francisco travels to take on the Chicago Bears in Week 8, saying, “I would guess so.”

Related Story: Kyle Shanahan vaguely hints he’ll stick with Jimmy Garoppolo

Lance might not be ready. And he’s certainly inexperienced. But the tough sell, getting tougher with each passing week, is the realization Garoppolo isn’t exactly elevating the 49ers offense to a point well beyond what the rookie could do right now.

Additionally, with each passing loss, the Niners’ season gets deeper and deeper into the tank. It’d be one thing to lose with Lance, so long as Shanahan is working towards developing his first-year protege into a franchise-caliber signal-caller.

Yet the increasing number of Garoppolo losses makes for an entirely bad sell job at every level.

So, especially with the 2021 NFL trade deadline right around the corner, one can safely wonder if Week 7 prompted Shanahan to make the decision he eventually has to make: start Lance.

Meaning Garoppolo could easily have played his final start in a San Francisco uniform.