Dear Kyle Shanahan,
We can all see that you don’t like Jimmy Garoppolo that much. It is extremely obvious. Now it’s time to do something about it.
It doesn’t look like you’re willing to cut it, and it certainly doesn’t look like it has a trading market, so it will likely return to 49ers for at least another season. But that does not mean that you simply have to hand him the position of full quarterback.
You must earn it. You must have a quarterback competition.
Garoppolo never gained an initial job in his professional career. He was a replacement for Tom Brady for three seasons in New England, and during that time Garoppolo hoped that the Patriots would eventually anoint him the guy in the franchise and abandon Brady. They never did.
They traded Garoppolo for the 49ers, and the 49ers anointed him as the defender of the franchise after five meaningless victories at the end of a lost season. It made him the highest-paid player in the NFL at the time. And they never seriously challenged their place on the depth chart. It never made you sweat for your work.
They spoiled him.
Garoppolo has been pampered since joining the NFL. And now he has at least $ 85 million and an extensive history of injuries. What is driving you to improve? How much does he still want to play football?
Make him show you, Kyle. Make him compete face to face during the training camp for the starting position with Josh Rosen, the tenth choice of the 2018 draft. Rosen is only 24 years old. He is younger, more hungry, healthier, more mobile and has a stronger arm than Garoppolo. Rosen is a real talent. If Garoppolo defeats him, good for him.
But he won’t. Rosen will win the competition, because he is better than Garoppolo.
Let Rosen prove it.
See why it was the tenth choice in the draft, if you need an update: