Jimmy Garoppolo is the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. He played college ball at Eastern Illinois University. Garoppolo followed in the footsteps of Tony Romo, setting six Ohio Valley and 13 EIU passing records. He highlighted his college career with a magical 2013 senior season, posting 5,050 passing yards with 53 touchdowns.
With prototypical QB height, weight and hand size & impressive college stats, despite a 4.97 40 time that barely edged out offensive & defensive linemen, the New England Patriots drafted Jimmy Garoppolo in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft as a potential replacement for their aging starter. After seeing virtually no action in Foxboro his first two seasons, Tom Brady was suspended the first four games of 2016; Jimmy had his Patriots chance. That chance was short-lived, though. Garoppolo was injured in Game 2, replaced by Jacoby Brissett, and never started again for New England.
As the Patriots began to realize their aging starter was no longer aging – in fact, he wasn’t even ever missing a game, they moved Garoppolo to San Francisco at the 2017 trade deadline. He's been the 49ers primary starter in two of his five seasons in the Scarlet and Gold. After starting the last five games of 2017 and the first three of 2018, he tore his ACL and missed the rest of 2018.
In his first full season, 2019, Garoppolo was decent albeit extremely conservative. Despite leading the league in percentage completion on deep balls, he was reticent to actually throw the ball very far – sitting No. 29 in deep ball attempts & No. 33 in air yards per attempt. His 33 rushing yards in 16 starts ranked No. 40 among quarterbacks, quite a feat in a league of 32 teams. Despite top-12 finishes in QBR and passer rating, low-risk/no-run play carried Garoppolo to the No. 22 fantasy ranking.
A high ankle sprain cost him 10 weeks in 2020. Returning for a full season in 2021, it was still short-tossing Jimmy - No 29 in deep ball attempts & No. 26 in air yards per attempt. This time, though, he didn’t have much success when he did sling the rock very far, finishing No. 29 in deep ball completion percentage.
As a 49er, Garoppolo has been the epitome of a low-floor, low-ceiling quarterback. He doesn’t run and is now over 30 years old. In the 2021 NFL Draft, the 49ers traded up to select their next franchise quarterback, Trey Lance, with the third overall pick. Although Garoppolo’s 49ers have won, his fantasy team owners haven't.
