SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Nearly five years after being drafted, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo's pro career has been defined by small samples.
Because Garoppolo never started more than two games in his three-and-a-half seasons with the New England Patriots, discussion of his potential to be a franchise quarterback has always ended with the caveat that he hasn't proven himself over any substantial period of time. Not that any of that is Garoppolo's fault. He has played the role that was asked of him without complaint.
Garoppolo added yet another tantalizing glimpse into his ability in Sunday's 24-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. After a left leg injury to rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard forced him to leave the game with 1:07 remaining, Garoppolo jogged on for three plays. He scrambled right for a gain of 4. He followed with a 9-yard strike to wideout Aldrick Robinson for a first down.
Finally, on the last play of the game, Garoppolo evaded pressure, rolled to his left and found Louis Murphy for a 10-yard touchdown. That's three plays, all successful, all leading to the only touchdown the Niners scored against Seattle in two meetings this season.
What does it mean for Garoppolo's efforts to break through to the starting lineup?
"Those plays have nothing to do with anything," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "That’s just running around and made a great play, but those have no bearing on it at all.”
No, Shanahan shouldn't make the change from Beathard to Garoppolo based solely on the latest, oh so tiny shred of evidence that he can be the team's long-term answer at the position. Shanahan should make the switch to Garoppolo this week for plenty of other reasons.
First and foremost is Beathard's health. Since Beathard took over as the starter on Oct. 22 against the Dallas Cowboys, he has found himself under constant pressure in nearly every game. He has been hit 52 times and sacked 19 times since then. That doesn't include additional hits he has taken when he has scrambled outside the pocket.
Beathard somehow managed to survive all of that until the last moments of Sunday's loss to Seattle. After a big hit from end Michael Bennett, Beathard didn't do as he usually does and pop right back up. He hobbled to the sideline as Garoppolo entered. Beathard is set for an MRI on Monday morning. The hope is that Beathard simply suffered a bruised knee, and he said after the game he thinks he'll be all right.
"If he can’t get up, it’s because something is wrong," Shanahan said. "[I've] got a lot of respect for how he plays. He has hung in there, and he’s gotten better for us each week. Hoping it’s not as bad as it looked. I hope he’s better than it seems tomorrow.”
Even if Beathard is healthy enough to play next week -- Shanahan said after the game that he wanted to see how Beathard is feeling and get to Wednesday's practice before making that decision -- it's unlikely he'll be at 100 percent. Beathard is fairly mobile as it is, but if he's taking this many hits on two good legs, imagine what it'll be like if he doesn't have his usual ability to move.
Yes, Garoppolo played only those three snaps, but his pocket presence and mobility were a couple of the things that could easily translate moving forward. It's not ideal to throw Garoppolo in behind an offensive line that is allowing so many hits, but he's athletic enough to escape pressure, and his experience in the league would undoubtedly allow him to process things more quickly than a rookie such as Beathard, even if he's still new to Shanahan's intricate offense.
"I have been saying this for the past couple weeks now," Garoppolo said. "It’s like a different language, but it’s similar concepts, but just different names and everything. That’s a part of being a quarterback. There’s little things that people don't see outside of the locker room, and you need to master those things, and I’m in a situation where I’ve got to do it as fast as possible."
Although Shanahan's repeated mantra of waiting to start Garoppolo until he has a chance to succeed makes sense, there's only so much that can be done -- at least this season -- for those conditions to be optimal. Let's face it: At this point, the roster is what it is. Julio Jones and Alex Mack aren't walking through that door.
Putting Garoppolo in now would give him a chance to show whether he is the kind of quarterback who can elevate his teammates and begin building toward 2018. If storylines are your thing (they aren't Shanahan's), it doesn't hurt that Garoppolo would be making his first start as a Niner in Chicago after growing up in nearby Arlington Heights. Add the fact the Niners play the Bears in a Week 13 game that looks the most winnable on the remaining schedule and that right tackle Trent Brown could be back from a shoulder injury, and now seems like the right time to make the move.
For his part, Garoppolo still isn't concerning himself about when his time will come, and he remained mum on his state of readiness after Sunday's game.
"I’m going to keep working just like I have been for the last month," Garoppolo said. "It’s a work in progress. It’s a grind, but I’m enjoying it."
In a perfect world, Shanahan would have been able to wait until just the right moment to play Garoppolo. His hand was forced on Sunday, and that leaves the door open for even more questions about his quarterback situation.
But things are never perfect in the NFL, and that isn't going to change in the next five weeks. It's time for the Niners to take the latest small sample that Garoppolo offered and turn it into something much bigger for the franchise's future.