San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had only made seven starts in the NFL through his first four seasons in the league. But after winning all five of his starts with the Niners at the end of the 2017 regular season, Garoppolo had made quite the impression on first-year general manager John Lynch.
In fact, Garoppolo had impressed Lynch to the point where the former All-Pro safety offered Garoppolo a five-year contract worth $137.5 million, the largest contract in NFL history at the time.
Clearly, Lynch was placing an immense amount of faith in Garoppolo's potential. The only problem was, he still has not seen what Garoppolo is capable of over the course of a full season.
After going 1-1 in his first two starts of 2018, Garoppolo tore his ACL in Week 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs and missed the rest of the season.
Despite prior concerns over Garoppolo's durability resurfacing especially in the wake of his massive contract, Lynch told Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area that he feels Garoppolo is fully healthy:
“I think what’s important, all the time, is you look at the totality of a camp and I think he’s had a really good camp, I really do,” Lynch said. “I think the best thing for all of us is that is, I get hesitant and reluctant to say it, but is his recovery from his knee has been flawless.”
Garoppolo was hardly inspiring even when he was healthy in 2018. He posted a QBR of just 26.9 and his completion percentage was below 60 percent over the course of the first three games.
The Niners are counting on Garoppolo to be the franchise quarterback, but his health is the top priority heading into the 2019 season.
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