Throughout the preseason for the San Francisco 49ers, Jimmy Garoppolo has had plenty of missed throws to his receivers.
Garoppolo, returning from an ACL tear, explained that the majority of his poor throws were the result of him trying to take chances that he wouldn't take in the regular season.
Per Marcus White in NBC Sports Bay Area:
“A big part of that is it still being preseason, or in practice, you try things like that,” Garoppolo said. “You know, during a real game, you wouldn’t make that throw or that decision, but there’s a trust factor between quarterback and . . . whoever’s catching the ball. The more you try those things, you see who’s going to make the play for you in a crucial situation.”
The 49ers quarterback struggled in his preseason debut against the Denver Broncos, completing just one of his six passing attempts for zero yards and an interception. Garoppolo couldn't chalk up his struggles in that game on taking chances on his receivers but last week he could.
Against the Kansas City Chiefs, Garoppolo bounced back to complete 70% of his passes for 188 yards and a touchdown. One of his incompletions came on a play where he was targeting Dante Pettis in the end zone with multiple defenders in his vicinity.
The pass may have fallen to the ground but Garoppolo was completely fine taking a risk to allow Pettis to make a play for him. The trust between Garoppolo and his receiving options will be crucial to the 49ers' success in 2019.
Garoppolo has made some hazardous throws in the preseason but don't expect him to do the same when the regular season begins.
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