The 49ers Should Have a Starting Quarterback Competition
Dear Kyle Shanahan,
We all can see you're not that into Jimmy Garoppolo. It's freaking obvious. Now it's time to do something about him.
It doesn't seem you're willing to cut him, and it sure doesn't look like he has a trade market, so he probably will return to the 49ers for at least another season. But that doesn't mean you simply should hand him the starting quarterback job.
You should make him earn it. You should have a quarterback competition.
Garoppolo never has earned a starting job in his professional career. He was Tom Brady's understudy for three seasons in New England, and all that time Garoppolo expected the Patriots eventually to anoint him the franchise guy and ditch Brady. They never did.
They traded Garoppolo to the 49ers instead, and the 49ers anointed him their franchise quarterback after five meaningless wins at the end of a lost season. Made him the highest-paid player in the NFL at the time. And they've never seriously challenged his place on the depth chart. Never made him sweat for his job.
They coddled him.
Garoppolo has been coddled ever since he entered the NFL. And now he has at least $85 million and an extensive injury history. What's driving him to improve? How much does he still want to play football?
Make him show you, Kyle. Make him compete head to head during training camp for the starting job with Josh Rosen, the 10th pick of the 2018 draft. Rosen is only 24. He's younger, hungrier, healthier, more mobile and has a stronger arm than Garoppolo. Rosen is a real talent. If Garoppolo beats him out, good for him.
But he won't. Rosen will win the competition, because he's better than Garoppolo.
Let Rosen prove it.
Here's why he was the 10th pick in the draft, if you need a refresher:
