Mike McGlinchey, 49ers believe Jimmy Garoppolo is ‘as good as anybody in the league’

Jimmy Garoppolo's San Francisco 49ers teammates have a lot of faith in the sixth-year quarterback with just 10 starts under his belt. Richard Sherman, one of the top cornerbacks in the league for years, once said the presence of Garoppolo influenced his decision to sign with San Francisco. He has been impressed with his quarterback through the first two practices of organized team activities.

"Jimmy was threading it," Sherman told reporters on Tuesday. "He got the ball right where he wanted to [...] He was putting the ball in some risky spots, where it seemed risky. It was real confident throws. He completed every single one of them."

Second-year tackle Mike McGlinchey joined KNBR on Wednesday and discussed the confidence the 49ers offensive line has in Garoppolo. He knows it all starts up front with the group's ability to protect its quarterback.

"It doesn't matter who's back there, our job is to keep guys upright," McGlinchey said on the "Fitz and Brooks" show. "If we're not going to do that, we're probably not going to be playing very long.

"Obviously, having Jimmy back there is huge for us. He's the leader of our football team. He's the face of our franchise. We believe he's as good as anybody in the league, and he's going to get a chance to show that. It's our job up front to make everybody's job easier but especially his.

"He's never going to have to worry about breakdowns in protection and all that kind of stuff because the five of us up front take a lot of pride in how we do our job, and how well we do our job. As long as we are silent, and nobody's talking about us all season, that means we're doing our job."

The tackles along the offensive line will have an opportunity to get better this offseason. The 49ers' interior linemen have had to deal with blocking defensive tackle DeForest Buckner during practices. Now, the tackles will have to protect the edge against one of the best pass rushers in the league in Dee Ford.

"Dee, he's everything that he's advertised," McGlinchey told reporters on Tuesday. "He's in the elite class of his get-off, and the ability to get into people, and take control of blocks."

As if blocking Ford isn't enough to deal with, the 49ers selected defensive end Nick Bosa with the No. 2 overall draft pick last month. He is dealing with a hamstring injury sustained on Tuesday, but once he returns to practice, the tackles could have their hands full.

"Everybody's going to be better for it by having better players in our building, and that's just kind of how it goes," McGlinchey said on KNBR. "Competition breeds success. When you are competing against guys of that caliber every day, and Joe (Staley) and I, and Shon Coleman, and the other tackles feel as though we do a good job of pushing them to be better.

"It's a matter of bringing your best in competition every day and trying to do your job to the best of your ability every single day, and that just builds more [consistency] and just elevates the success of players."

You can listen to the entire conversation with McGlinchey below.