With joint practices between the Las Vegas Raiders and San Francisco 49ers grabbing headlines, the spotlight shone bright on Jimmy Garoppolo. Once the quarterback of one of the most feared NFL squads, Garoppolo has the distinction of having switched sides between these teams. His journey to the Silver and Black, however, is an interesting one.
Before Garoppolo took the practice field against his former teammates, he shared some insight into what went wrong in San Francisco (h/t Michael Silver).
For those of you who might’ve forgotten, things went awry when Garoppolo was still leading head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense. The 49ers were riding high, experiencing much playoff success, but, as any fan from the Bay Area will tell you, the team fell short. While many Raiders fans point to Garoppolo riding the coattails of Robert Saleh’s vaunted defense, to sell No. 10 short is, well, shortsighted.
Still, Shanahan and the 49ers’ brass decided to go a different route. Back in 2021, they drafted quarterback Trey Lance after executing one of the more lopsided trades in recent memory to move into position to acquire his services. While the Lance trade is another topic entirely, it did signal that Garoppolo would be out sooner rather than later. Garoppolo was quite candid in describing how that transpired, in particular his feelings about where he stood after the trade.
“Yeah, the (2021 season) was [really] awkward. That was tougher than this past year, honestly. You’re always gonna be dealt a hard hand at some point, and you’ve just got to make the best of it, and that’s what I’ve tried to do. That was a hard time. But I had some good people around me to lean on.”
Jimmy Garoppolo doesn’t have to worry about history repeating itself with the Raiders, right?
When you combine awkwardness with a rough stretch of injuries, Garoppolo’s exit was rough, to say the least. Whether you like it or not, “Jimmy G” is back with some familiar faces in Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler. To be clear, there’s no real long-term commitment if you want to nitpick at his contract. However, things change on a whim—just ask Derek Carr.
However, unlike what happened in San Francisco, Garoppolo doesn’t have to worry about a rookie taking his job. Aidan O’Connell could be the future, sure, but according to reports, he’s not even capable of overtaking Brian Hoyer as QB2 right now. Barring an extraordinary set of circumstances, this will be Garoppolo’s offense. The big unknown in all of this is how Ziegler and Co. will approach the quarterback position next offseason. Would the Raiders draft a quarterback if Jimmy leads this team to, let’s say, 10 wins? Is he the answer past 2023?
*Top Photo: Raiders Official Website
Jimmy is only as good as the “O” line protecting him. He had success in New England when Brady got hurt because NE always has a huge and very good “O” line (Billichick trademark). Anyone can stand back there and pick you apart when you have enough time to eat lunch every time you drop back to pass. Jimmy IS NOT a QB that is good on the run. He can manage a little (very little) going to his right and nothing going left. Our “O” line is suspect at best. We have a solid anchor with Kolton protecting his blindside/backside but after this…its suspect. Giving credit where its due the line started last year very bad and improved greatly until the last few games when the playoffs became out of reach. I am hoping the ” O” line (save Kolton) improves greatly as they are the key to success especially if JJ plays here. WE MUST run the ball to be able to pass the ball. Having double and triple threats on offense is paramount to winning any games as it keeps the defenses off balance.