Real Headline
from
Lincolnreport
“As for Garoppolo, who arrived in San Francisco a few days prior to his 26th birthday, his career path changed in an instant. “Things have really worked out,” he said in his introductory press conference. Shanahan was the Cleveland Browns’ offensive coordinator when Garoppolo was coming out of Eastern. He had watched the FCS slinger from afar and had high marks on the Panthers passer, who had been ignored by the bigger schools and chose EIU over Illinois State and Montana State. Shanahan met with Garoppolo privately. They ate dinner and talked football and watched tape together, and Shanahan felt good about him. The coach had recommended two quarterbacks for the Browns to draft that year outside the first round: Garoppolo and Tom Savage, who is starting for the Houston Texans. Obviously, the Browns passed, having selected Johnny Manziel in Round 1 (22nd overall pick). The Patriots pounced at the end of Round 2. Both the Texans, who reportedly loved Garoppolo coming out, and the Browns were picking in the next 10 selections after Garoppolo went off the board. During the run-up to Super Bowl LI, Shanahan was the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator, but he had accepted the job as 49ers head coach. Both he and soon-to-be GM John Lynch had their eyes on solving the 49ers’ QB problem, knowing that Colin Kaepernick was not the team’s future in their eyes, and had Garoppolo on their short lists. Shanahan was asked that week what he had liked about Garoppolo coming out. “He was a very good thrower. Very tough. [He] would hang in the pocket,” Shanahan said. “He played in a different system, that Baylor [type of] system where they got rid of the ball fast. But he had good attributes. I can see why New England took him.” He also described Garoppolo as a “pure thrower,” saying, “there are not many of them on the planet. They’re hard to find. But you want those guys who can do that — and guys who are fearless. It’s very tough to succeed in this league if you’re not a natural thrower, and you can’t think about that pass rush at all.” That’s a big concern now for the 49ers, who have allowed multiple sacks in every game but one and four sacks or more in five different games. Beathard had been hit at least 50 times in his six games of action. Hence the reason why the 49ers haven’t felt the need to rush Garoppolo into the lineup before he was fully comfortable with the scheme and, most importantly, the protections. Shanahan had no desire to send out his possible future franchise QB into the fire, but the coach did say he’d seen improvement.”
