It wasn’t just that Jimmy Garoppolo looked great in his first start as 49ers quarterback, it’s that he made it look so darn effortless.
Despite not throwing a touchdown pass, Garoppolo seemed to hit the target on nearly every throw, and moved in and out of the pocket with the ease of a 10-year veteran. It led some 49ers fans on social media to make stylistic comparisons, albiet premature ones, to Joe Montana, but former NFL scout John Middlekauff believes Jimmy G has more in common with a former Dallas Cowboy.
“I texted with a scout buddy who was at the game and who he compared him to, he’s like, ‘everyone sees (Kirk) Cousins, I don’t see Cousins, I see a young Tony Romo.’ And it hit me. I kind’ve agree with that. Think how good Tony Romo was, just as an athlete, accurate, and making things out of nothing,” Middlekauff said.
Middlekauff believes that Garoppolo has all the tools, and maybe more, than Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, who won the MVP with Kyle Shanahan as his offensive coordinator last year. If Shanahan and John Lynch can surround Garoppolo with talent, it sure seems like he has the potential to be great.
“You know the hype everyone’s been talking about with (Shohei) Otani for like the last year? That was Jimmy Garoppolo yesterday, that was just incredible. He was, without throwing a touchdown, I don’t know if you could be much better. He was 26/37, around 70 percent, it felt like he was 95 percent, it also felt like every ball he threw, really except an overthrow down the left sideline to (George) Kittle, touched a receivers hands. It was just a clinic on accuracy, and a clinic on how perfect he is in this offense. He’s the ultimate Kyle Shanahan player.
“The best case is what happened with Matt Ryan last year, winning the MVP. Well Jimmy Garoppolo probably has every bit as strong of an arm as Matt, if not more, but he’s a better athlete, and clearly he’s as accurate, so I think you saw yesterday flashes that the sky’s the limit with the guy.”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Middlekauff’s comments on Garoppolo, start from the beginning.