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The 49ers can’t make any changes to the quarterback. At least not with their starter. All signs after week 17 point to Garoppolo starting under center to start next season. Even if it ends up being the case, San Francisco has yet to address the elephant in its quarterback room.
With Garoppolo’s injury history – he’s missed 25 out of a potential 57 starts since his first opportunity to start for the Patriots in 2016 – the 49ers must find a better contingency plan in the event of an injury.
Teams usually don’t expect their starting quarterback to go down, but San Francisco has too good a roster to let an injury to a quarterback who’s already missed so much time derail their season. Nick Mullens is unable to keep the team afloat for more than a game or two. The same could be said of CJ Beathard.
All three arrived in Santa Clara in 2017, and they’ve been part of the quarterback trio on the roster since 2018. There hasn’t been any serious competition for any of them either.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on video conference Monday that this offseason would be different from a quarterback assessment perspective.
“Yeah, we’re going to think about it more carefully this year, but not for anything to make a big statement or tweet,” Shanahan said. “Last year I was very happy with our starting quarterback. I was very happy and happy with our second string. I was very happy and happy with our third string. They were all under contract. We were ready to go.
Next, Shanahan offered a glimpse into the club’s strategy in the 2020 Draft. Their choice closet was relatively empty and they needed to make a few trades to finally come away with five caps. Looks like a more normal year where they entered the draft with seven or more picks, San Francisco might have drafted a quarterback for the second time in Shanahan’s tenure.
“At the start of the offseason it looked like we had about three picks in the draft,” Shanahan said of the 2020 draft process. “I think we got one in the first one and then we don’t. had one other than the fourth. So it’s, ‘Alright. We don’t even touch the quarters. We are good with all three. We don’t need to think much about this. ”
They ended up with two wide receivers, a tight end and a lineman on either side of the ball.
There was a brief moment during the offseason when rumors circulated that free agent and Bay Area native quarterback Tom Brady wanted to play for his hometown club. After internal discussions, Shanahan and General Manager John Lynch have chosen to stay with Garoppolo.
“Of course when someone like the greatest player to ever play football is out there, you definitely lean into that regardless,” Shanahan said of Brady’s free agency. “Other than that, we weren’t because of our situation.”
Next, Shanahan discussed this offseason and the 49ers quarterback’s looming dilemma. Last year wasn’t as much of a concern as Garoppolo was coming off a 16-game season, Nick Mullens looked like a competent quarterback and Beathard was a good third option.
Now both reserves are set to hit free agency, forcing the 49ers to tackle the quarterback depth chart. Shanahan explained that while he was happy with Mullens and Beathard, the club will look more closely at other options than last year.
“This year, our save, and our third right now, is restricted and unrestricted. So you have to look at everything when trying to fill a quarterback roster, ”Shanahan said. “We have a starting quarterback, but to know where these guys are going to be we either have to re-sign the guys we have or see if we can improve them through the draft or free agency. To do that you have to evaluate everything, so you know how to stack them and everything. So we’re definitely going to be watching a lot more stuff this year than we did last year.
It’s hard to envision, after the club’s struggles this year with substitute quarterbacks in place of Garoppolo, that the 49ers would opt for the same squad. In fact, they could end up looking for a substantial upgrade that could possibly overthrow Garoppolo whose contract expires after the 2022 season.
The wheels are turning in the San Francisco quarterback room for the first time in three years, and the way they navigate those waters could have a ripple effect that defines the club’s long-term future under center.
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