On Monday night, the 49ers stole Jimmy Garappolo from the New England Patriots. The Patriots received a second round pick from San Francisco, but most believed Garappolo was worth a first. A second round pick for a possible franchise quarterback is an absolute steal. By the way, to put this pick into perspective, three recent second round quarterbacks have been Geno Smith, Christian Hackenberg and DeShone Kizer.
What this means for the 49ers
At 0-8, it appeared the 49ers would wait this season out and go for Kirk Cousins, or draft a young quarterback. San Francisco had no idea what the Redskins were going to do with Cousins, and going into the season, the 49ers were one of the 10 youngest teams in the league. With the average age of a 49er being around 25 years old, it makes complete sense to go after a 26-year-old.
Additionally, coach Kyle Shanahan really likes Garappolo. Prior to the 2014 NFL Draft, Shanahan ranked Derek Carr and Garappolo as the best quarterbacks in the draft. However, don’t expect him to play right away. San Francisco is without both of their tackles on the offensive line, and it is going to take time to learn the playbook. Realistically, Garappolo could play following their bye, which would give him three weeks to prepare.
In 17 career games, and two starts, Garappolo has been essentially flawless. He has thrown five touchdowns, zero interceptions, completing passes at 67 percent and a passer rating of 106.2.
Last season, Garappolo’s yards per attempt was 8.0, which would be good for fifth in the league in 2017. His 113.3 passer rating would be second behind Alex Smith. Obviously, it is an incredibly small sample size, but 49ers fan should feel ecstatic.
Future of San Francisco
As far as the future of this team, don’t let their winless record fool you. The 49ers are a young defense who can turn out to be very special. Solomon Thomas, who is battling an MCL sprain, has looked like the real deal in his rookie season. DeForest Buckner is arguably the 49ers best defensive player, and he is just 23 years of age. Former first round pick Arik Armstead had 16 tackles and 1.5 sacks before injuring his hand against the Washington Redskins. Don’t forget about Reuben Foster, who has also been battling injuries all year.
The offense has enough weapons for Garappolo to find early success. Carlos Hyde has been extremely effective as both a runner and pass catcher in the offense, while Pierre Garcon is up to 500 yards receiving through their first eight games. Speedster Marquise Goodwin is a perfect deep ball threat for Garappolo.
In his press conference, Garappolo exclaimed how he is “thrilled to be here” and “eager to get out there and show what I can do on a Sunday.” Garappolo also touched on how he could not be happier to be a member of this team.
As far as future schedule looks, it won’t get any easier next season for San Francisco. They will be facing, on the road, Green Bay, Kansas City, Seattle, Minnesota and the LA Rams. While it may take some time, Jimmy G and the 49ers could be a perfect fit. The best part is that San Francisco will still have a top five pick in this year’s draft, and might have found their quarterback for the next ten years.
What this means for New England
To be honest, this move is quite the head scratcher. It would be one thing if the Patriots did not like Garappolo and thought he wouldn’t pan out, but that is just not the case. The Patriots loved this kid, and viewed him as the Aaron Rodgers to Brett Favre. If Brady goes down, their season is over.
An important message to note is that Bill Belichick would have absolutely considered trading Tom Brady after this season. However, Brady and owner Bob Kraft are extremely close, and Albert Breer, reporter for the MMQB.com, claims that Belichick “probably knew the Kraft family was not going to allow him to trade Tom Brady.”
Whatever the case may be, Tom Brady is 40 years old. Although he looks good, it just doesn’t make sense to trade the future away, especially when the franchise believed he has serious potential. Joe Montana, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre, one way or another, were all forced to cut ties with their original teams and play somewhere else.
New England is usually ahead of the curve when it comes to trading players away at the right time, but I guess when you are dealing with the GOAT, things get complicated. Something tells me Kraft’s relationship with Brady got in the way of how Belichick wanted to do business.
Boston sports fans are extremely blessed, but also might not be ready for life after Brady. Keep in mind that from 1989-1993, the Patriots never won more than six games in a season. The Celtics did something similar to New England, when they held onto Bird, Parish and McHale too long. After their success, the players aged, and Boston went 22 years without winning a title. They were unable to reach the playoffs from 1995-2001. Letting past success get in the way of the future leads to situations like the Celtics.
To remind Patriots fans, and NFL fans, how hard it is to find a franchise quarterback, I have constructed a list of all the quarterbacks who have won at least nine games in three different seasons. All of course, part of the same franchise. As you’ll see, it could take years before New England gets back on track once Brady is gone.
Players with at least three 9-Win Seasons with Franchise (# of seasons)
Arizona/St Louis Cardinals
Jim Hart 1974-76 (3)
Atlanta Falcons
Matt Ryan 2008- (6)
Baltimore Ravens
Joe Flacco 2008- (6)
Buffalo Bills
Jack Kemp 1964-1966 (3)
Joe Ferguson 1973-1981 (4)
Jim Kelly 1988-1995 (6)
Carolina Panthers
Jake Delhomme 2003-2008 (3)
Chicago Bears
NONE
Cincinnati Bengals
Ken Anderson 1973-1981 (4)
Boomer Esiason 1986-1990 (3)
Andy Dalton 2011-2015 (5)
Cleveland Browns
Otto Graham 1950-1955 (5)
Frank Ryan 1963-1967 (5)
Bill Nelsen 1968-1971 (3)
Dallas Cowboys
Roger Staubach 1971-1979 (7)
Danny White 1980-1985 (4)
Troy Aikman 1992-1996 (5)
Tony Romo 2007-2014 (3)
Denver Broncos
John Elway 1984-1998 (9)
Jake Plummer 2003-2005 (3)
Peyton Manning 2012-2014 (3)
Detroit Lions
Bobby Layne 1952-1956 (3)
Matthew Stafford 2011- (3)
Green Bay Packers
Bart Starr 1961-1966 (4)
Brett Favre 1993-2007 (12)
Aaron Rodgers 2009- (7)
Houston Texans
NONE
Indianapolis Colts
Johnny Unitas 1959-1970 (5)
Bert Jones 1975-1977 (3)
Peyton Manning (11)
Andrew Luck 2012- (3)
Jacksonville Jaguars
Mark Brunell 1996-1999 (4)
Kansas City Chiefs
Len Dawson 1962-1971 (5)
Alex Smith 2013- (3)
LA/San Diego Chargers
Dan Fouts 1978-1981 (4)
Stan Humphires 1992-1995 (3)
Philip Rivers 2006- (6)
LA/STL Rams
Roman Gabriel 1967-1970 (4)
Kurt Warner 1999-2001* (2 (Went 8-3 in 2000) )
Miami Dolphins
Bob Griese 1970-1977 (5)
Dan Marino 1984-1998 (8)
Minnesota Vikings
Fran Tarkenton 1973-1976 (4)
New England Patriots
Steve Grogan 1976-1979 (4)
Drew Bledsoe 1994-1997 (3)
Tom Brady 2001- (15)
New Orleans Saints
Bobby Herbert 1987-1992 (3)
Drew Brees 2006- (5)
New York Giants
Phil Simms 1984-1993 (7)
Eli Manning 2005- (7)
New York Jets
Joe Namath 1967-1969* (2 (Three winning seasons when regular season=14 games) )
Vinny Testaverde 1998
Oakland/LA Raiders
Daryle Lamonica 1967-1972 (4)
Ken Stabler 1974-1979 (6)
Rich Gannon 2000-2002 (3)
Philadelphia Eagles
Ron Jaworski 1978-1981 (4)
Randall Cunningham 1988-1992 (4)
Donovan McNabb 2000-2009 (6)
Pittsburgh Steelers
Terry Bradshaw 1972-1980 (6)
Neil O’Donnell 1992-1995 (4)
Ben Roethlisberger 2004- (9)
San Francisco 49ers
Joe Montana 1981-1990 (7)
Steve Young 1992-1998 (6)
Seattle Seahawks
Dave Krieg 1984-1990 (3)
Matt Hasselbeck 2003-2007 (3)
Russell Wilson 2012- (5)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NONE
Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers
Dan Pastorini 1975-1979 (3)
Warren Moon 1989-1993 (3)
Steve McNair 1999-2003 (4)
Washington Redskins
Joe Theismann 1979-1984 (3)
Mark Rypien 1989-1992 (3)
Featured image by Boston Herald
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