As Garoppolo spends his weeks working his way back from another high-ankle sprain, many 49ers fans are fantasizing about how to replace him. This isn't a foreign concept for the 49ers. No QB is ever good enough for this fanbase. Steve Young can attest to this from his experience in the early 90s. He was never going to be Joe, and that was a big problem for a good amount of the fanbase. No matter how well he performed, he never got the seal of approval until he won the Super Bowl in 1995.
Ever since Young left this franchise, there's been a contingent of fans who have become completely spoiled by the Joe/Steve dynamic of yesteryear. This fanbase has run any good QB out of town because he isn't the very best. It's a never-ending, self-defeating cycle that is frustrating to watch. In the early 2000s, QB Jeff Garcia put up some of the best statistical seasons in 49ers history, but his arm strength wasn't the best. He wasn't Joe, he wasn't Steve, we needed something better. In 2011, Alex Smith led the 49ers resurgence to prominence on the national stage as he brought the 49ers within a hair of a Super Bowl birth. In 2012, Smith was constantly questioned by the fanbase and at first injury he was replaced by a much more physically gifted QB in Colin Kaepernick. The 49ers fans needed to be fed, they needed more. Colin Kaepernick took over the QB job, eventually fizzling out years later. The never-satisfied 49ers fans would once again enter the cycle of the QB search.
Here we are today. Look, I get it. It is very comfortable for fans to pin all the ills of an organization on one player. After losing Super Bowl 54, the infection started to set into this team. Beginning as minor rumblings about Garoppolo's 4th quarter performance, they have now turned into a deafening roar of uprising against the man who 9 months ago had the 49ers up 20-10 with 7 minutes left in Super Bowl 54. The team completely failed on that day, but it has been so much more convenient for fans to believe that replacing Garoppolo would solve all of the 49ers' problems. It's complete nonsense, but it makes a fan feel good. Many fans need that; they need to believe a fairy tale rather than the brutal truth in front of them.
The fairy tale is Zach Wilson. The fairy tale is Deshaun Watson. The fairy tale, for some goofs, is Kirk Cousins. Scroll through your social media timeline and you'll be flooded with 49ers fans trashing Jimmy Garoppolo and propping up any number of random QBs. They pine for scenarios in which the 49ers dump Garoppolo and choose their QB crush.
Zach Wilson is the popular college crush. All logic gets tossed out the window when the Wilson clan tweets away. I'm not questioning the talents of the player, he may be great; he also may be a complete bust. College QBs are no sure-bet, and playing at BYU it's hard to shower praise upon a guy who's playing some severely talent-deficient teams. Navy, Troy, LA Tech, UTSA, Houston, Texas State, Western Kentucky, Boise St., North Alabama and San Diego St. Those are the teams that Wilson has played against in 2020. Is there much NFL talent on any of these rosters? Never mind the obvious, Wilson's stock is rising significantly and it's quite clear he will be a top 3 or 4 QB in this draft class. The 49ers will probably select around 10-15, way out of the range of a top 3-4 QB when you consider the teams probably drafting ahead of them (WFT, NYJ, Jacksonville, New England, Atlanta, NYG). It's not hard to imagine all of the top 4 QBs being gone by the time they pick. Here is where the spoiled brat 49ers fans become dangerous. Their fantasy scenario is trading up to get this unproven college QB. They are begging for the 49ers, a team with 41 free-agents in 2021, and an estimateed $21 million in cap room in 2021, to make a big trade and sacrifice future picks for a superstar QB from BYU. Mortgage your entire future for a player who could be the next Jake Locker. Idiotic. Flat out idiotic.
The lunacy doesn't just stretch into the college ranks. Some have been floating the idea of trading for Texans QB Deshaun Watson.
Watson is a great QB. The 49ers should know that best as head coach Kyle Shanahan didn't bother studying him because Shanahan, notoriously, had a hankering for someone named C.J. Beathard. The 49ers already missed the boat on this QB, but now the fans are getting a craving to right that wrong. Yes, these 49ers fans are pushing for the team to trade for a $40 million QB to replace the $25 million QB that they claim is costing the team too much money. You can't write this stuff, the entitled 49ers fans will do it for you. Not only does Watson make no sense financially, once again, they ignore the fact the 49ers would have trade multiple 1st round selections while currently having 41 players scheduled for free-agency in 2021. To these fans, all you need is a flashy QB who can run around and throw it very far. Once you acquire that, Lombardi #6 comes as an after-thought. Moronic. Flat-out moronic.
I don't have the stomach to discuss anyone advocating for QB Kirk Cousins. I'm sorry, you're just going to have to sit with that idea on your own. We have to look at the root of the problem here. Most of the fans don't even understand what the coach is trying to accomplish. Kyle Shanahan has drafted the following WRs: Trent Taylor, Dante Pettis, Richie James Jr., Deebo Samuel, Jalen Hurd, Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings. Notice a pattern forming here? There isn't a single deep-threat in the bunch. While the bratty 49ers fan whines about a lack of deep passes from QB Jimmy Garoppolo, a simple examination of the roster displays the reality that they choose to blindly ignore. Kyle Shanahan isn't looking to throw moonballs. This isn't the Mike Martz-J.T. O'Sullivan show. Shanahan seeks receivers who can get free and pick up their yards after the ball is in their hands. Just look at the type of QBs Shanahan has coached prior to his time with the 49ers. Can you recall how much Shanahan despised working with RGIII? In Washington, Robert Griffin III was known for scrambling and making plays with his legs while possessing a rocket arm that could push the ball down field. Sorry to break it to you. The QB you want, Shanahan doesn't.
Sorry I had to reel you back into reality on this Monday morning, but you brats needed it. Don't run another damn good QB out of town just to begin the QB search cycle all over again. It's time to appreciate the player you have, and give up that infatuation for the darling QB replacement who suits you.
Written By:
Gilbert Brink
49ers outsider, residing in the Hudson Valley, representing 30+ years of the 49ers experience
All articles by Gilbert Brink
Gilbert Brink
49ers outsider, residing in the Hudson Valley, representing 30+ years of the 49ers experience
All articles by Gilbert Brink