The 49ers have made a trade for Jimmy Garoppolo in hopes that he’s their quarterback of the future, but it is expected to be some time before they put him in charge of their offense.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Garoppolo is not expected to be in the starting lineup for the 0-8 49ers when they face the Cardinals this weekend. Rookie C.J. Beathard is expected to make his third straight start since replacing Brian Hoyer, who is set to be released with Garoppolo joining the team.
That’s not a particularly surprising piece of information as Garoppolo has a lot to learn about Kyle Shanahan’s offense before he’ll be in position to run it. That may mean Beathard remains the starter in Week 10 against the Giants as well because the 49ers have a bye in Week 11. That would give Garoppolo three weeks to soak up the offense and six games to put what he’s learned into motion before the year is out.
The 49ers may be 0-10 by that point, but they didn’t trade for Garoppolo to win right now. They made the move to win games in the future and that makes getting him into the lineup immediately a less urgent matter.