Jimmy Garoppolo hasn’t been perfect in training camp. It’s understandable since its early in the year, he has new receivers to gel with, and he’s still knocking the rust off after spending the offseason rehabbing a torn ACL. While the room for improvement is apparent, there is one very encouraging stat that stands out for the 49ers quarterback: he’s yet to throw in interception in team drills.
Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee noted on Twitter that Garoppolo’s final pass of Saturday’s practice was a dropped interception from safety Jaquiski Tartt. The dropped INT kept Garoppolo’s total for camp at zero.
Dropped interceptions still count as a mark against the 49ers’ quarterback. However, that he hasn’t given defensive backs a ton of opportunities is a signal of positive growth for Garoppolo.
For all the positive remarks about Garoppolo’s play in eight starts with the 49ers, his eight interceptions in eight games are something of a problematic trend. Part of that total was inflated by a three-interception performance in Week 1 last year, but his 3.0 percent interception rate with the 49ers would’ve tied him for the eight-worst mark in the league last year among qualified quarterbacks.
Reports from camp indicate Garoppolo has had some up-and-down showings with his accuracy, but that should come around as he gets more comfortable with his new receivers and gets back into the swing of playing quarterback after 10 months off from facing an NFL defense.
The lack of interceptions show he’s beginning to progress in his understanding of the offense, and is getting the ball to the right players in the right spot. Not turning the ball over is going to be paramount to the 49ers turning their fortunes around in 2019, and that’s going to fall heavily on the shoulders of their quarterback.
Garoppolo doesn’t need to put up 5,000 passing yards or 45 touchdown passes for San Francisco to succeed this season. He does need to limit his giveaways. While there’ve been a couple drops from the defense, Garoppolo’s low interception total and limited chances for them for the defense show he’s on track to improve his interception rate.
