Jimmy Garoppolo will start the 2022 NFL season as a backup, but Peter King doesn't believe the veteran quarterback will be attached to that label for terribly long.
Garoppolo recently restructured his deal to stick around with the 49ers for the time being, but there are reasons to believe Jimmy G still isn't long for San Francisco. Injuries happen and teams might be motivated to kick the tires on Garoppolo if they're unsatisfied with their respective quarterback situations a month or so into the season.
However, King doesn't believe Garoppolo's next starting opportunity will come outside of the Bay Area. In his latest Football Morning in America column for NBC Sports, the longtime NFL writer predicted Garoppolo will replace Trey Lance as the Niners' QB1 in the lead-up to the team's Week 7 matchup with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Expecting Lance to not make it through the full season as the starter certainly isn't a hot take by King. The 22-year-old has all of the raw talent in the world, but it remains to be seen where he's at in his development process. Lance didn't exactly dazzle as a rookie and Kyle Shanahan and company shouldn't hesitate to hand the keys back to Garoppolo if the sophomore signal-caller simply isn't getting it done. The NFC West figures to be too competitive of a division to roll with a mediocre QB for months.
Lance should be able to make a strong first impression this Sunday, though. The 49ers will spend Week 1 in Chicago for a matchup with the Bears, who are poised to be one of the worst teams in football this season.
