Garoppolo remains intriguing possibility
General manager John Lynch made it quite clear Tuesday he views Jimmy Garoppolo as the 49ers’ quarterback of the future.
But the 49ers’ quarterback Sunday? That remains an unknown.
In a 40-minute sit-down with Bay Area media members, Lynch said the decision to start Garoppolo or rookie C.J. Beathard against the Seahawks will be made by head coach Kyle Shanahan, who will address the media Wednesday.
However, Lynch suggested there remains no rush to see Garoppolo make his debut with the 49ers after he was acquired in a trade Oct. 30.
“With all our players, we want to set them up for success,” Lynch said. “Probably none more so than a guy we think has the opportunity to be our franchise guy.”
Lynch reiterated many of the team’s talking points. He noted Garoppolo is learning a completely foreign offensive system after spending his first four seasons in New England.
“When he comes here,” Lynch said, “it’s like starting all over.”
Lynch also highlighted how Beathard’s last performance made it easier to delay Garoppolo’s first performance with his new team. In his fourth NFL start, Beathard completed 19 of 25 passes for 288 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, while also running for a score in a 31-21 win over the Giants on Nov. 12.
“C.J. playing the way he played last week,” Lynch said. “… It gives us an opportunity to kind of continue to really — we’re trying to accelerate (Garoppolo’s growth), but we don’t want to rush it.”
It was widely assumed the 49ers viewed Garoppolo as a potential franchise quarterback when they traded a second-round pick to the Patriots to acquire him. However, Garoppolo isn’t signed beyond this season. On Nov. 5, ESPN reported it was possible the 49ers could place the franchise tag on Garoppolo and subsequently trade him.
On Nov. 10, when asked about the report on KNBR, Lynch didn’t dismiss it. Instead, he said he spoke with Shanahan and executive Paraag Marathe before they completed the trade about how Garoppolo, if nothing else, could be a trade asset.
“If all you’re doing is acquiring a chip that a lot of people see as valuable,” Lynch said, “then it’s a good deal for that.”
On Tuesday, Lynch clarified his comment.
“That probably was a stupid thing to say because people take that and” run with it, Lynch said. “I think what the point was, Kyle said ‘We love this guy’ but it was a throwaway. If you just took away our feelings for him and said ‘If we were to do this for that (trade), then it’s a good decision based upon that alone.’ So that is not at all how we think.
“We really, genuinely believe that this guy has got the makings of a guy who could be our guy for years to come. That’s all got to come to fruition on the field and all that, but that was kind of a throwaway line that got a lot of attention.”
Lynch said the 49ers’ belief in Garoppolo has been only bolstered by seeing him up close for the past three weeks. He acknowledged the 49ers are projecting how good he could be because of his inexperience: Garoppolo, 26, has made only two starts and thrown 94 career passes.
Lynch isn’t worried about the small sample size.
“He does some things that are pretty special — that it doesn’t take a quarterback savant to see,” Lynch said. “He can spin a football in a bigtime way.”
Before the Patriots approached the 49ers about a trade, the 49ers were poised to explore quarterback options in free agency and the draft in the offseason.
Now, they have Garoppolo and Beathard, who has offered strong evidence that he could be a capable backup since he replaced since-released Brian Hoyer a month ago.
Lynch noted the 49ers’ offseason priorities have changed.
“You still study every position,” Lynch said, “but we feel pretty good about where our quarterback room is.”