When Kyle Shanahan talked about Jimmy Garoppolo after the San Francisco 49ers signed him to a huge contract extension, he had some interesting things to say about the future of the team. Specifically, Shanahan was asked his plans when he gets Garoppolo in the building in April.
“It’s nice to start from scratch and to go at a slower process,” Shanahan said. “He got a crash course, and he did a hell of a job picking it up, but some things he’s out there and he’s just going, but he doesn’t truly understand why and things like that.”
For sure, it’s interesting to consider how much Garoppolo was playing on instinct. The quarterback spoke to KNBR and was asked what percent he understood things this past season.
“Percentage-wise, I’m not sure,” Garoppolo said. “I haven’t even seen the whole playbook to be honest. But being able to star from scratch this offseason, how we’re going to, will really help. Because I kind of got a crash course of it as you guys know. And it’s kind of like, some of the things you’re doing, you don’t even know why you’re doing it, you’re just doing it because the coach tells you. I think starting from scratch and having Rich and Kyle be able to walk me through things, it’ll help me tremendously.”
Garoppolo seems excited to see what the full playbook experience will look like Shanahan is very well-respected as an offensive-minded coach, and if Garoppolo over the final weeks of the season was only a small percentage of Shanahan’s offense, the possibilities appear endless.