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San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about Jimmy Garoppolo on Thursday and addressed how Jimmy handled all of the Tom Brady rumors. Shanahan was asked what the difference in Garoppolo is this year compared to the last offseason:
“I can tell his thoughts are a lot clearer because he’s not worrying about an ACL and rehabbing. He’s 100% focused and getting better mentally from knowing the offense from just knowing defense. It’s not just, everyone says, learning the offense. Jimmy’s learned the offense. He’s fine with that. It’s just being automatic. It’s understanding coverages, going through everything where I can’t tell you how much more I know as a coach in year 17 or whatever than I did in year two. That never stops. So, to go through an offseason where you don’t have to rehab the whole time, it gives you a chance to take that to another level.”
Understanding coverages and getting better pre-snap reads will come with experience. The more confident Kyle is in Jimmy, the more he’ll open up the offense.
The follow-up question was discussing Brady and how Jimmy dealt with all of the rumors surrounding him:
“When you have to talk to Jimmy about one of the best quarterbacks of all time being available, I know Jimmy has a goal to be that. I know Jimmy. I believe Jimmy has the ability to be that, and that’s what both of us are going for. If we can get him there and he has the ability to do it, we’re going to be pretty happy with who we have for a long time.”
The 49ers have several storylines heading into the 2020 regular season, but none will be bigger and more scrutinized than how Garoppolo performs. The schedule is set up for Jimmy G to get off to a hot start.
Going by DVOA from last season, the best pass defense the Niners will face is the Eagles, and they were 16th last year. Early in the season, Shanahan should give the reigns to Jimmy G and let him gain confidence by opening up the offense. I’m intrigued to see Garoppolo in his second full season as a starter.