"I think people like the headlines," San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk said on KNBR Friday morning while discussing the scrutiny surrounding his quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo. "Jimmy G is a popular character out there, so if you can include his name in anything, I think you're going to get a few more readers, a few more viewers that are going to check it out."
Thus, this article is born.
Seriously, though, Garoppolo is no stranger to scrutiny this offseason. Following two lackluster playoff performances and a fourth-quarter collapse in the Super Bowl that followed three quarters of MVP-level play, the national media was quick to wonder if the 49ers need to go in a different direction.
First, there was Tom Brady potentially coming to San Francisco. He didn't.
Then it was possibly holding out until Kirk Cousins is available after the upcoming season. He signed an extension with the Minnesota Vikings.
Now, there are some wondering if the 49ers should consider drafting a future replacement. We'll learn how that unfolds in a couple of weeks.
Juszczyk, like many others, doesn't understand all of the scrutiny surrounding Garoppolo, who, in his first full season as a starter, helped lead the team to its first Super Bowl appearance in seven years.
"I really, truly don't understand why Jimmy gets [scrutinized] so hard," Juszczyk said from his home in Long Island, New York, during the Murph and Mac show interview. "I think the guy had a phenomenal season, and I think anyone in our building will tell you that. I think the numbers say that. I think the fact that he led us to the Super Bowl will say that, and that we were six minutes away from winning it."
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At least Garoppolo is handling the criticism well.
"For the scrutiny that he is getting," Juszczyk continued, "he's the best guy to handle it. I think Jimmy takes it right on the chin. He really doesn't let those things bother him. He didn't let that kind of talk phase him the entire season because there were little headlines throughout the entire year.
"When we didn't have to rely on throwing the ball, for whatever reason, people took that as a negative against Jimmy. It was just a positive to other aspects of our team. There were times when our defense was winning games for us. There's times when our running game was winning games for us, and you just didn't have to throw the ball. And when we did, he stepped up and did it."
Juszczyk points to the 49ers' high-scoring battle with the New Orleans Saints as a good example. Garoppolo had a career game and out-dueled one of the best in the game, Drew Brees, in a hostile environment.
"We won because of Jimmy, and his ability to throw the football," Juszczyk added as further proof that his quarterback can perform at a high level.
The 49ers fullback believes the best is yet to come from Garoppolo, and he is still relatively young. That means San Francisco could reap the benefits of a strong run by its quarterback for a long time.
"You can also throw in there (that) he's still early on in learning Kyle's (Shanahan) system," Juszczyk explained. "He wasn't here for the full first season. He didn't get that first full offseason, and he showed up in like November, his first season with the Niners.
"Kyle's offense is not simple, by any means, and when you're the quarterback, you've got to know more than anybody. He's just going to continue to learn that, continue to grow. I really don't think we've seen even close to the best of Jimmy G."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Juszczyk below.
