Jimmy Garoppolo will make his first start of the 2022 NFL season for the 49ers on Sunday against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High.
The veteran quarterback took over for Trey Lance, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the 27-7 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2.
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For coach Kyle Shanahan, he has the utmost confidence in Garoppolo's throwing ability as the 49ers look to improve to 2-1 and win their second straight game.
“I’ve never not seen Jimmy throw the ball,” Shanahan told reporters Friday. “I think Jimmy’s one of the better throwers on this planet, so that’s been one of his number one attributes. I thought Jimmy had his best year last year.
“Got surgery at the end of the year and once his arm started healing up, which throwing on the side and stuff, it always looked good. Once we got him in with our team, which is right after the first preseason game, throwing him in with the scout team and stuff, he looked like he always has.”
Shanahan also highlighted the mechanical side of Garoppolo’s throwing, revealing that the zip in the ball out of the 30-year-old’s hands gives him belief that the 49ers do indeed have one of the better throwers in the NFL.
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“I used to watch him when I was walking out,” Shanahan added. “All you had to do was see him throw it once and watch how it spun. Watch the zip it came off with, how he looked when he threw it. And he’s always been that way.
“When you do stuff like that, you have to take it slowly, so you don’t have any setbacks, but I remember right when he got here, he felt great. You don’t want to go in just because you feel great go test the arm so fast and end up setting yourself back a couple months.”
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Garoppolo will face a Broncos' pass defense that is in the top five in terms of passing yards allowed, so he will have his work cut out for him on "Sunday Night Football."