Sunday in Chicago the 49ers, their coaches and their fans, will find out how much Brett Favre or Russell Wilson is inside Jimmy Garoppolo. What you will see this Sunday in Chicago will be all Jimmy G. Because he’s not going to get any help, at least not from his coach, game-planner and play-caller Kyle Shanahan.
When Garoppolo makes his first 49ers start against his hometown Bears this Sunday in Chicago for the injured C.J. Beathard, Garoppolo won’t have the benefit of Shanahan’s brilliant play calls, because, of course, Garoppolo doesn’t know enough of the offense to run Shanny’s system.
So it will be basic plays, limited motion, few adjustments at the line of scrimmage, and maybe 30 pass plays and 35 runs for Garoppolo against the Bears.
So if Garoppolo moves this mostly moribund 2017 offense, he should get the credit. Shanahan’s quarterbacks of the past have benefitted from his offensive brilliance, and nearly all of them have improved and had their best statistical years with Shanny as their coordinator.
But, there will be no foolin’ the Bears Sunday in Chicago. It will be basic plays, and likely, Garoppolo running around buying time, and making stuff up.
It’s the very thing he did last week, during his three plays at the end of the Seattle game. When no one was open on his first play, he bolted and slid for a 4-yard gain. Then, Aldrick Robinson did get open on what looked like Garoppolo’s first read and he hit him for 8 yards.
Even though it was a short throw, Garoppolo hit Robinson in stride from the near hash mark and he got the ball out quick. Then, on his third and final play, another off-schedule pass with Garoppolo moving to his left to beat the rush and finding Louis Murphy for a 10-yard touchdown pass.
So in a frightfully short sample size, Garoppolo made two plays on his own in the three passes that were called. He will likely be living off script in Chicago, because his play script will be so truncated.
When he made his two starts in New England he had the benefit of knowing the system, of having decent protection, and a championship set of receivers. None of that will be present this Sunday.
Instead, he will have to conjure his college days at Eastern Illinois, when Garoppolo was thrust into this situation every game. They didn’t have a playbook there, and Garoppolo just called the play and made the adjustments at the line of scrimmage.
That experience could help him greatly, and don’t be surprised if the 49ers break out a four-receiver offense and a no-huddle. Garoppolo could then just pick out the match-up he wanted and throw. He put up gaudy stats at Eastern Illinois doing just that. On the first game of his senior season, Garoppolo threw six touchdown passes in the first half.
But he mostly has to play in a NFL offense now, and it could get messy. Against the Giants when C.J. Beathard re-injured his thumb in the second half, Garoppolo almost went in for him. One of the first things coaches did was summon tight end Garrett Celek. The coaches told Celek he would have to help Garoppolo call the play in the huddle. That might be the case in Chicago. In fact, maybe Celek will also get a wrist band with the plays on it.
Typically, Shanahan doesn’t want his quarterbacks using a wrist band. But in this situation, Shanny has no choice. Off his play sheet, he will call a number, which will correspond with what’s written on Garoppolo’s wrist band and then Garoppolo will read the play off his band.
The other strategy the 49ers could employ is to get Garoppolo to the line quickly and then Shanahan can help him with adjustments before his microphone shuts off after 15 seconds. That’s what Rams coach Sean McVay has done with quarterback Jared Goff down in L.A.
Expect some time-outs, some formation penalties, some delay of game calls. Much of it will just be Garoppolo making it up on his own, with an injury diminished offense against a more talented team. It could be disastrous at times, it also could be outrageous fun, particularly if Garoppolo goes all Eastern Illinois on them.
All I’m saying is I hope Garoppolo has a sense of humor, and I also hope 49ers fans and coaches do too, because this could get wild.