The Jimmy Garoppolo era is beginning in San Francisco.
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told the team today that Garoppolo will start on Sunday in Chicago.
The 49ers acquired Garoppolo by trading their second-round draft pick to the Patriots the day before the league’s trade deadline, but they had been starting C.J. Beathard instead of Garoppolo. However, Beathard was hurt late in Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks, and that opened the door for Garoppolo to start.
It will be just the third start of Garoppolo’s NFL career. He started two games last year for the Patriots in place of the suspended Tom Brady, but he was injured in the second of those two games and didn’t start again. Outside those two games he has played sparingly but well, with a 67.7 percent completion rate and six touchdowns and no interceptions in his NFL career.
On Sunday the 49ers will get a good look at the player they already invested a second-round draft pick in, and will likely invest $25 million in with next year’s franchise tag.