The Choice: 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo
In order to breakdown which QB will have the better season, we are going to need to look at the pieces that each QB has around him. First up, Jimmy Garoppolo.
The one thing that Garoppolo has that maybe no other QB has, outside of Patrick Mahomes, is that he has one of the smartest offensive coaches in the NFL in Kyle Shanahan. He is the son of long time NFL head coach Mike Shanahan. Kyle worked under his dad in 2010 through 2013, but with the Falcons is where Kyle really shinned.
Shanahan was with the Falcons offensive coordinator in 2015 and 2016, and during those two years, their offense flourished. The 2015 season was a bit of a rough year for the Falcons on offense, but in 2016, they scored the most points in the NFL and had the second-most yards in the NFL. Shanahan also helped lead the Falcons to the Super Bowl in 2016 as well.
After his short stint in Atlanta, Shanahan landed himself a head coaching job with the 49ers. Shanahan has been with the 49ers since 2017, but this past season is when he really got to show off his skills as a head coach.
To put it simply, Shanahan is simply the best play designer in the NFL. Shanahan will often call the same play, or similar-looking plays, but often will disguise them with different personal packages, as well as using motion. While Shanahan does run the ball very often, he also incorporates plenty of play-action usage into his offense as he used the 9th most play-action plays last season
As far as weapons go, Garoppolo has a decent unit around him. Garoppolo used to have a talented veteran receiver in Emmanuel Sanders, but with Sanders’ departure for the Saints, he will now have to rely on young receivers like rookie Brandon Aiyuk, and second-year player, Deebo Samuel. The one thing that Garoppolo does have in terms of offensive weapons is George Kittle, who is one of the best tight ends in football.
Kirk Cousins last season had a quietly good season with a good offensive coordinator, as well as two good receiving weapons, but this season things are changing.
Cousins had one of the better offensive coordinators in the NFL in Kevin Stefanski. Stefanski helped Cousins out last season by being a creative play-caller, as well as being a heavy user of play-action, but now Stefanski has left Minnesota for a head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns. Now the offensive coordinator will be former Texans head coach, Gary Kubiak.
While Stefanski will be a notable loss for the Vikings, they also had a bit less in their receiver group as well. They traded away star receiver Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills. Diggs was not only Minnesota’s best receiver but one of the best receivers in football, altogether. With Diggs gone, they will now rely on Adam Thielen to be their number one receiver, as the rest of their receiver group is either young and developing, or not to the level of a quality receiver.
Who is going to have the better 2020 season is hard to determine between Cousins and Garoppolo. Currently, in their career, Cousins is the better QB between the two, but Garoppolo does have the added benefit of playing with an elite tight end, as well as one of the smartest offensive coaches.
Ultimately, it appears Jimmy Garoppolo is primed to have a better 2020 campaign between the two. He will have major help in the way of Kyle Shanahan, decent young receivers and George Kittle, who is arguably the best tight end in football. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Kirk Cousins outperform Garoppolo, but as of right now, the 49ers QB is better positioned.
