Does Jimmy know who will be the starting quarterback come Week 1?
"Yeah, I have a pretty good idea." *huge smile* ? pic.twitter.com/4FZiEJ8RJc
— KNBR (@KNBR) August 25, 2021
The 49ers aren’t saying who their starting quarterback is, at least not explicitly. Head coach Kyle Shanahan declined to name his starting quarterback after the team’s second preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers, and declined again on Wednesday, following a few teams around the league, like the Bears, Jaguars and Broncos, naming their starting quarterbacks.
Shanahan doubled down again on Wednesday, saying he doesn’t see any competitive advantage in publicly naming his starting quarterback, but said he has a “pretty good idea” who it is.
Kyle Shanahan says he doesn't feel he has anything to gain by naming a Week 1 starting QB right now
"I know you guys want an answer, which is fine, I get the suspense of it, but I'm not just going to answer it to end your guys' suspense…I'm trying to get you more clicks." pic.twitter.com/9tJH1Y259k
— KNBR (@KNBR) August 25, 2021
“I’ve always had a pretty good idea,” Shanahan said. “But, there’s lots of days between now and then, at every position… This situation, I feel like I’ve talked pretty consistent through this whole time and I get everyone wants to keep talking about stuff and I would love to help you guys and answer you guys but I think you guys all got a pretty good idea [who the starting quarterback is] and I think our team does also.”
Directly after Shanahan’s availability was Jimmy Garoppolo, who Shanahan named as the starter entering training camp, before slowly distancing himself from that suggestion. He’s said fairly consistently that not much has changed from that point, but also stopped referring to Garoppolo as the clear starter, despite him getting the overwhelming majority of reps with the first team.
Shanahan said that he feels Garoppolo has, “just had more command at this time than he has any of the other years. Jimmy always gets there eventually, but I think he’s come in, and I think that’s natural with it being his fourth or fifth year.”
Wednesday was also the first day in which Garoppolo ran with the second team a fair amount. Normally, Lance has gotten some first team reps, but Garoppolo has stayed with the first team, too. That changed on Wednesday, with both quarterbacks working with either group. Nate Sudfeld got no reps.
Garoppolo was asked if he has a “pretty good idea” who the starting quarterback is. He smiled widely, and said, “Yeah, I have a pretty good idea.”
Then he was asked about the grin, and whether that means anything.
“It’s whatever [Shanahan] decides, yeah,” Garoppolo said. “I have a pretty good idea. I’m pretty happy with where I’m at right now and everything and just the offense as a whole. Yeah, Kyle’s the head man. He’ll make the call.”