Jimmy Garoppolo

Much was expected out of Garoppolo entering last season, but those sky-high hopes were dashed Week 3 when he suffered a season-ending ACL tear in his left knee. His first couple games didn't really live up to the hype - three INTs Week 1, barely 200 yards passing Week 2 - but Week 3 (8.4 YPA, two TDs) offered a glimpse of his promise before he went down in the fourth quarter. Aside from Garoppolo's health, the main question for the 49ers is the state of coach Kyle Shanahan's offense. The team's No. 1 target is tight end George Kittle, who figures to regress at least somewhat from his all-time season, and while the 49ers have a lot of young talent at wide receiver, the emphasis is on young. Dante Pettis made a late-season impact last year as a rookie but is still unproven, and he's joined by second-round pick Deebo Samuel as well as inconsistent deep threat Marquise Goodwin. The 49ers also added Jordan Matthews, but he's no lock to even make the team. The backfield has quality receivers, with Tevin Coleman joining Matt Breida. Garoppolo plans to return with a knee brace, which could be an issue if the offensive line (48 sacks last year) doesn't improve. Garoppolo will come cheaper at the draft table this year, but if you liked him last season you should still like him this season, provided his knee checks out healthy in training camp.

Garoppolo might be the most popular man in the Bay Area - the San Francisco Zoo even named one of its snow leopards "Jimmy G." It's easy to see why. After a trade in late October last season, Garoppolo stepped in for an injured C.J. Beathard and led the 49ers to five wins in their last five games. And suddenly, the rebuilding 49ers, who spent the last four seasons spinning their wheels, have their quarterback of the future and a path back to at least relevance. But drawing definitive conclusions based on a five-game sample is difficult. Garoppolo was accurate and efficient and stood strong in the pocket against pressure. Had he thrown enough passes to qualify, Garoppolo would have led the league in YPA (10.1) against the blitz and ranked second in completion percentage (66.7). He also engineered 21 red-zone scoring drives as a starter, tied for most in the NFL in the last five weeks. But he did not throw downfield too often and struggled when he did, completing three of 14 attempts beyond 20 yards. He also threw five interceptions in five games. But if anything is encouraging it is how quickly he picked up the offense, and how far he could go after a full offseason to learn coach Kyle Shanahan's intricate system. The 49ers drafted tackle Mike McGlinchey ninth overall hoping to improve the offensive line. But the skill positions are modest, at best, led by 32-year-old Pierre Garcon and 5-9 Marquise Goodwin. Tight end George Kittle is the only obvious red-zone target, and prized offseason acquisition Jerick McKinnon suffered a season-ending knee injury before Week 1.

Following an offseason in which Garoppolo's name frequently came up in trade rumors, the 25-year-old signal-caller remains with the Patriots, slotted behind entrenched starter Tom Brady on the team's depth chart. Garappolo, who New England selected 62nd overall in the 2014 NFL Draft, had an early-season playing opportunity in 2016, with Brady suspended for the first four games of the campaign. Garappolo's starting run was cut short, however, due to a shoulder injury. While he was out there, the Eastern Illinois product was able to demonstrate enough promise to generate the aforementioned trade interest, with the Browns reportedly having made a push to acquire him. From a statistical standpoint, Garappolo finished up last season with 43 completions on 63 attempts for 502 yards to go along with four TDs and zero picks over the course of six appearances. It's a small sample size, but with three seasons as Brady's understudy to his credit, Garappolo is viewed by the franchise as a plug-and-play option in the event that his veteran counterpart is injured. Garappolo is under contract with New England through this coming season and thus continues to serve as a valuable insurance policy for Brady, who is set to turn 40 this August. Beyond 2017, it's plausible that team will try to find a way to keep Garappolo in the fold, either by signing him to a contract extension, or franchising him.

Garoppolo is poised to finally get a chance to show what he can do in the NFL after two seasons spent as Tom Brady's seldom-used understudy. A second round pick in 2014 out of Eastern Illinois, Garoppolo possesses good athleticism, and his decision-making and leadership qualities were graded as pluses. Combine those qualities with a quick release, and he should in theory be an excellent fit for the Patriots' short passing game, but there were questions about his arm strength and pocket awareness after a college career spent in a spread offense. The reinstatement of Brady's four-game Deflategate suspension pushes Garoppolo into the starting lineup despite attempting just 31 passes in regular season action over the last two seasons, and an opening-month schedule that includes a road trip to Arizona and home matchups against divisional rivals the Bills and Dolphins will put the young signal-caller to the test right away. If he proves up to the task, the Patriots could have some interesting decisions to make next offseason as Garoppolo heads into the final year of his rookie contract while Brady carries a huge cap hit for a 40-year-old, but in the short term his first taste of a starting job in the NFL will end after Week 4.

When the Patriots used the 62nd overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft on Garoppolo, the idea was for the team to have a potential successor in place for franchise signal-caller Tom Brady. Even after fellow backup quarterback Ryan Mallett was dealt to the Texans last August, the plan was for Garoppolo to not see much of the field during regular season action, barring a Brady injury. All that changed this May though when the league handed Brady a four-game suspension for his reported role in “Deflategate.” In the wake of that, Garoppolo was line to start the team’s first four games through most of the summer, but one week before the NFL's regular season 2015 opener, Brady's suspension was nullified, setting the stage for Garoppolo to remain the team's No. 2 signal-caller.

Garoppolo, who was selected 62nd overall in the 2014 NFL draft, gives the Patriots a potential successor to franchise signal-caller Tom Brady, with fellow QB Ryan Mallett having been dealt in August. Of course, Garoppolo won't see much of the field during the regular season unless Brady suffers an injury.