No reason to change QBs coming off 1st victory
Kyle Shanahan didn’t drag the process out.
On Wednesday, during his first meeting with the media after a bye week, the 49ers’ head coach said C.J. Beathard will start Sunday against the Seahawks and prized recent acquisition Jimmy Garoppolo will remain sidelined.
Why not delay the announcement until later in the week to keep Seattle guessing? The first reason the refreshingly unparanoid Shanahan offered reporters: “It would be exhausting to talk about this every day with you guys.”
Of course, some 49ers fans are probably getting tired of not seeing Garoppolo in action after the presumptive franchise quarterback was acquired in exchange for a second-round pick Oct. 30.
However, Shanahan, again, explained that he wanted Garoppolo to become more familiar with his dense and complex offensive playbook, which bears little resemblance to the system Garoppolo spent three-plus seasons learning with the Patriots.
“Jimmy gets more and more ready each week,” Shanahan said. “Is Jimmy going to be the best he can? To me, that’s impossible. He just hasn’t been here long enough. … I don’t think we’re going to see Jimmy’s best football, to be fair to him, until next year. Because that’s what guys need.”
On Tuesday, general manager John Lynch strongly suggested Beathard would make his fifth NFL start Sunday. In doing so, he also alluded to Garoppolo’s steep learning curve. As a Fox analyst last year, Lynch often spoke with Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who was the NFL’s MVP in his second season with Shanahan as his offensive coordinator after a disappointing 2015 season.
“Matt talked about in year two how much he learned more than year one,” Lynch said. “So I think we’re asking a lot” of Garoppolo.
Garoppolo, 26, is used to waiting. He’s made just two career starts after spending his time in New England serving as Tom Brady’s understudy.
“The competitor in me, obviously, you want to get out there, play with your teammates and help the team win,” Garoppolo said. “But it’s a tough situation coming in midway through the season.”
Shanahan also acknowledged Beathard’s performance has made it easier to let Garoppolo continue his off-the-field education. Beathard, a rookie thirdround pick, had a career-best performance in a 31-21 over the Giants on Nov. 12, the 49ers’ first win in 10 games.
“I did go into the weekend and into Monday considering Jimmy,” Shanahan said. “Definitely, the way that (Giants) game went, I knew it was going to make it easier for me to stick with what we’ve been doing because I think we made (strides). And I don’t think it’s totally right for Jimmy, C.J., our entire team, our organization, just to change that right away.”
On Tuesday, Lynch indicated he expected the process to logically play itself out. And it could be that Beathard, who took advantage of New York’s listless defense, struggles against Seattle’s more formidable unit.
If so, Garoppolo, a native of suburban Chicago who attended Eastern Illinois, could be in line to make his 49ers debut at Chicago on Dec. 3.
“It’s a weird process that I haven’t been in before,” Shanahan said. “I’ve never traded for a quarterback in the middle of the year, one that you would like to play. But it’s something that we’re going through and there’s not a book on how to do it. You try to make the best decision each week.”