A lot has been made about the quarterback position for the San Francisco 49ers. They were all in on Trey Lance as they spent the entire offseason rebuilding their offense to fit his skill set. Lance couldn’t be much more different from Jimmy Garoppolo, who was the team’s starter when healthy for the last five seasons.
Garpoppolo has led the 49ers to two NFC Championship Games, going 1-1 in those games. They fell short against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 54, 31-20, which raised a lot of questions about whether or not Garoppolo was a quarterback capable of getting them over the hump for a championship.
When looking at his production, it is a fair question. Garoppolo could best be described as a high-level game manager. When tasked with having to throw the ball too much, he has been prone to making some mistakes. In 2019 he threw 13 interceptions in 16 regular season games and in 2021 he had 12 in 15 games.
In the postseason, Kyle Shanahan takes the ball completely out of his hands, which is understandable. In six postseason games, Garoppolo has six interceptions compared to only four touchdowns and has completed only 60.6 percent of his passes. In last season’s playoffs, he completed only 58.1 percent.
For his postseason career, Garoppolo is averaging only 22 pass attempts per game. That is more than seven pass attempts per game fewer than what he has attempted in his regular-season career with the 49ers. However, the most important stat for a quarterback is winning and in that regard, he excels.
Heading into Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints, Garopplo had made 59 starts for San Francisco, including the postseason. He has won 40 of those games, tying Steve Young for the most victories in the first 59 games started, which is three ahead of Joe Montana.
Garoppolo added another win to the docket as the 49ers defeated the Saints 13-0 on Sunday afternoon, giving him 41 career victories in 60 starts with the franchise. That gives him a winning percentage of 68.3 percent, which translates on average to 11.6 wins per 17 games.
While Jimmy Garoppolo may not have the flashiest game or put up the biggest numbers, he is a winner. He has improved his performance this season, as he is turning the ball over less and throwing for more touchdowns. San Francisco is hoping it is enough to get them to the top of the mountain as Super Bowl champions.
