San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Fearlessness of Garoppolo a welcome, and risky, change
Two years ago, the 49ers’ season-opening quarterback was Blaine Gabbert, who displayed a distinct lack of daring. Case in point: On 4thand-6 in the final two minutes of a seven-point loss to Dallas in 2016, Gabbert completed a pass … that gained three yards.
Last year, the 49ers’ seasonopening QB was Brian Hoyer, who was also far more gunshy than gunslinger. To wit: Hoyer had five third-down completions in a loss to Seattle in 2017 … and just one netted a first down.
This brings us to Jimmy Garoppolo, who enters Sunday’s home opener against the Lions with a growing reputation as a risk-taker.
In six starts with the 49ers, Garoppolo has made jawdropping plays while also throwing eight interceptions. That would translate to 21 picks over a 16-game season, a total that would have been the second most in the NFL in 2017.
Garoppolo, who is averaging 1.3 interceptions per start with the 49ers, is unquestionably a vastly superior QB to Gabbert or Hoyer, despite those two combining to throw just 16 interceptions in their 21 starts (0.7 per game) the past two seasons.
The upshot is this: Top-level quarterbacks aren’t afraid to attempt difficult throws, but that comes with a tradeoff. Last week, Garoppolo threw a career-high three interceptions in a season-opening loss at Minnesota.
“There’s going to be games where sometimes it’s not perfect,” left tackle Joe Staley said. “But there’s going to be games, too, where he’s going to have five touchdowns and no interceptions and throws for a ton of yards.”
Garoppolo’s fearless style was immediately hailed last season.
In his first start, a win over Chicago, he fired an are-youkidding, sidearm, off-his-back foot, 16-yard completion into triple coverage to wide receiver Louis Murphy.
Said head coach Kyle Shanahan after that game: “You never like to throw into triple coverage, but sometimes you have to overcome coaching and just make plays.”
But Garoppolo has now thrown six picks in his past three starts. On Wednesday, Shanahan was asked about Garoppolo’s penchant for trying to make a play rather than toss a ball out of bounds.
“I have mixed emotions about it,” Shanahan said. “Guys make plays. When you get happy with guys who are making plays you can’t sit there and get mad at them every time that they don’t. That will handcuff them and that’s speaking out of both sides of my mouth as a coach.
“So Jimmy has made a lot of plays when nothing has been there, and my whole thing with that stuff is just about not guessing.”
It’s fair to say Garoppolo needs to fine-tune his mental risk-reward analyzer.
Last week, his last interception — a deep over-the-middle toss that was corralled by safety Harrison Smith — was an awful throw to Trent Taylor, who had three defenders around him. With the 49ers trailing 24-16 at their own 11-yard line with 1:45 left, Garoppolo had to be aggressive, but his final throw never had a chance.
Former 49ers quarterback Steve Young noted Garoppolo will learn to understand that “part of winning is losing on specific plays.” Young’s point: Not every play can be salvaged.
“So he’s going to have to learn when those times come because there’s not always a solution,” Young said on KNBR. “… You don’t have to have an answer on every play.”
Garoppolo’s desire to make plays has all but eliminated what became a QB staple for the 49ers’ previous two season-opening QBs: the thirddown check-down pass.
In 2016, only 68 percent (21 of 31) of Gabbert’s third-down completions resulted in a first down. In 2017, only 54 percent (20 of 37) of Hoyer’s thirddown completions netted a first down.
In Garoppolo’s six starts with the 49ers, 86.1 percent (31 of 36) of his third-down completions have resulted in a first down.
For Gabbert and Hoyer, playing it safe was part of the reason they stopped playing: Both were benched before Week 7 the past two seasons.
Garoppolo is in no danger of being demoted, but he probably has to dial back his willingness to flirt with danger.
“I always want a guy to see something, react, let it rip and don’t hesitate,” Shanahan said. “If you make a mistake, just be able to understand why you did, be able to articulate it, and we’ll see it on the tape. And then we’ll learn why we don’t make that (throw) again.”