49ers cannot make any changes to the quarterback. At least, not with their starter. All signs after week 17 indicate that Garoppolo is starting from the center to start next season. Even if this happens, San Francisco still has to address the elephant in their quarterback.
With Garoppolo’s injury history – he missed 25 of a potential 57 starts since his first Patriots departure opportunity in 2016 – the 49ers need to figure out a better contingency plan if he gets injured.
In general, the teams do not plan for the starting defender to go down, but San Francisco has too good a list to leave an injury to a defender who has already lost so much time to derail their season. Nick Mullens is unable to keep the team afloat for more than one or two games. The same could be said for CJ Beathard.
All three players arrived in Santa Clara in 2017 and were the trio of defenders on the 2018 roster. None of them had any serious competition.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Monday in a video conference that this off-season would be different from the perspective of the defender’s evaluation.
“Yes, we will look harder this year, but not for anything that would make an important statement to tweet about,” Shanahan said. “Last year I was very happy with our starting defender. I was very happy and satisfied with the second row. I was very happy and satisfied with the third row. They were all under contract. We were good to go. “
Then, Shanahan offered a perspective on the club’s strategy in the 2020 project. Their locker was relatively empty and they had to do a few trades to finally leave with five selections. It seems that in a more normal year in which they entered the draft with seven or more elections, San Francisco could have drafted the quarterback for the second time in Shanahan’s term.
“Going out of season, it looked like we had about three selection projects,” Shanahan said of the 2020 draft project. So, it is, “All right. We don’t even touch the defenders. All three of us are good. We don’t have to look at this too much. ‘ “
They ended with two wide receivers, a tight end and a lineman on each side of the ball.
There was a brief moment in the offseason in which rumors circulated about the free agent defender and Tom Brady, a native of the Bay Area, wanting to play for the club in his hometown. After internal discussions, Shanahan and general manager John Lynch chose to stay with Garoppolo.
“Of course, when someone like the greatest player who has ever played football is there, you definitely look into it no matter what,” Shanahan said of Brady’s free agency. “Besides, it wasn’t because of our situation.”
Then, Shanahan discussed this off-season and the background problems of the 49ers. Last year was not as worrying, as Garoppolo was coming out of a 16-game season, Nick Mullens looked like a capable defender no. 2, and Beathard was a good third option.
Now, the two reserves will reach the free agency, forcing the 49-year-old to approach the defender’s depth chart. Shanahan explained that although he was pleased with Mullens and Beathard, the club will find it harder to look at other options than they had last year.
“This year, our rescue and the third right now, one is restricted and one without restrictions. So, you have to look at everything when you try to complete a quarterback list, ”said Shanahan. “We have a starting defender, but to know where these guys will be, he has to be re-signed on the guys we have or see if we can update them through the project or the free agency. To do this, you need to evaluate everything so that you know how to stack them and more. So we’re definitely going to look at a lot more this year than we did last year. “
It’s hard to imagine after this year’s club fights, with reserve defenders starting in Garoppolo’s place, that the 49ers would opt for the same group. In fact, they may end up looking for a substantial upgrade, which could eventually eliminate Garoppolo, whose contract expires after the 2022 season.
The wheels are spinning in San Francisco’s quarterback for the first time in three years, and the way they sail in those waters could have a ripple effect that defines the club’s long-term future under the center.