Commanders’ QB Conundrum: A deep dive into Jimmy Garoppolo

After missing out on Matthew Stafford last year and watching Ryan Fitzpatrick suffer an injury in Week 1, the Washington Commanders found themselves in a precarious position, having to start their “quarantine quarterback” for the majority of the 2021 season. Now, Taylor Heinicke played his heart out and you can never question his determination and will to win, especially during the team’s four-game winning streak.

In his seven wins, Heincke led four-game winning drives and led Washington to victories over Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, and Derek Carr. But, while Heinicke has an abundance of gusto and can look like a magician when escaping from the pass rush, what he lacks is an NFL-level arm. This was evident with constant underthrows to Terry McLaurin. Those short few yards turned potential touchdowns into contested catches or worse, interceptions.

So, heading into the 2022 season, Washington faces the conundrum once again of finding its next quarterback. And the team is seriously in the hunt, calling every single team to check on quarterback availability. Unfortunately, that didn’t end with Washington ending up with Justin Herbert or Patrick Mahomes.

Suffice to say, the team is aggressively looking for solutions, and with what is considered to be a weak QB draft class, the team seems like they will go the veteran route, regardless of if they take a prospect in the draft.

If the team is unable to get a Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson, then it will need to look for a “second-tier” starter, a la Jimmy Garoppolo, Carson Wentz, or Mitchell Trubisky.

A deep look into Commanders’ QB target Jimmy Garoppolo.

Will it be the oft-questioned QB that led his team to the Super Bowl and an NFC conference championship in two of the past three seasons? Will it be the former division rival that was considered an FCS prodigy entering the league? Or, will it be the QB who most only remember as being drafted before Mahomes and Watson?

Today, let’s take a deeper look at one of the three options, Jimmy Garoppolo.

Jimmy Garoppolo is an interesting example of making the best of your situation. When you see a QB that has gone deep into the playoffs in two of the past three years, that sounds like a sure-fire player to pursue, but let’s take a deeper look.

Garoppolo has a 25-12 regular-season record over the last three seasons which would surely be a record that Washington fans are content with. However, digging deeper, you’ll notice that over that time, Garoppolo only had a 1.8:1 TD to INT ratio, which is by no means outstanding.

What is exciting about Garoppolo is the fact that he can get the ball down the field, finishing with the second-highest air yards per attempt last season.

Not only that but according to Sharp Football Analysis, Garoppolo had a 103 passer rating when going deep left and a 119 passer rating when going deep right (15+ yards downfield), which far surpasses Wentz in 2021 and Trubisky in 2020. For comparison sakes, Heincke had a 101 passer rating going deep left last season but that dropped to a 30 rating going deep right.

Garoppolo also had an on-target percentage of 81.5% on target, according to Pro Football Reference, with the 49ers finishing with the second-highest on-target percentage in the NFL.

However, Garoppolo is far from perfect. First, the compensation Washington would have to give to the 49ers makes trading for him almost not worth it, with rumors stating San Francisco would want a first-rounder for the QB. Second, despite the fact that he has taken the team so far into the playoffs in recent years, the team still traded up to select Trey Lance, which speaks volumes in itself.

Despite going deep into the playoffs, Garoppolo has benefitted from an elite defense tied with an abundance of weapons on offense including Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk, and Elijah Mitchell. His stats in the playoffs also leave much to be desired as he only has a 60.6% completion percentage, 74.1 passer rating, and four touchdowns compared to six interceptions.

Additionally, Garoppolo lacks high-end athleticism and speed, scoring a paltry 5.01 RAS score, with a very poor speed rating. Coach Ron Rivera likes versatility, which is one of the reasons Heinicke was able to keep the starting job for so long. That is a big area lacking in Garoppolo’s game, as he has averaged a paltry 1.4 yards per rushing attempt throughout his career.

Finally, the other concern with Garoppolo is his injury history. In 2016, he missed time with a sprained AC joint. In 2018, he tore his ACL, followed by a knee injury in 2019, an ankle sprain in 2020, and a calf injury in 2021. And just yesterday, it was reported that he would need shoulder surgery this offseason.

It is clear that Garoppolo is respected in the locker room with George Kittle commending his demeanor through all the criticism.

"Jimmy G. I mean, you can’t say enough about that guy. The sh— that he takes, excuse my language, people consistently try to pull him down and all he does is try to deliver. He leads this team and he is the sense of calm in the huddle, he is the sense of calm in the storm and he allows us to play at a high level."

Despite that, I think the compensation, injury risk, and lack of versatility would lead to the team passing on Garoppolo.