9 things Patriots fans should know about Jimmy Garoppolo
While Garoppolo threw 118 touchdown passes in college, he has only one professional touchdown.
For the first four games of the 2016 season, a quarterback not named Tom Brady will start at quarterback.
Brady said Friday that he will end his legal battle over Deflategate, and will serve his four-game suspension. And in all likelihood, the Patriots will name Jimmy Garoppolo their starting quarterback for the season-opener.
Here’s what Patriots fans should know about the likely starting quarterback for the first four games of the 2016 season.
Small school star at Eastern Illinois:
With the EIU Panthers, the 6-foot-2 quarterback finished his senior season with 53 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and he completed 66 percent of his passes for 360.7 yards per game. During his four-season college career, Garoppolo threw 13,156 yards, 118 touchdowns, and 51 interceptions with a 62.8 completion percentage. He also rushed for four touchdowns.
Draft status:
The Patriots selected Garoppolo at 62nd-overall in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
Professional stats:
In two NFL seasons, Garoppolo has thrown 20 completions in 31 career attempts (64.5 percent). He has one career touchdown and no interceptions. The longest completion of his pro career is a 37-yarder to former Patriots receiver Brandon LaFell. In 2016, he completed only one regular-season pass.
He’ll compete with rookie Jacoby Brissett for the starting job:
Garoppolo may be the likely starter, but Bill Belichick won’t hand him the starting job. And former Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi said in June he thinks Brissett could see the field as soon as Garoppolo struggles. The Patriots selected Brissett in the third round of this year’s draft. In his senior year at NC State, he completed 59.7 percent of his passes for 2,606 yards, 23 touchdowns, and five interceptions.
Here’s who Garoppolo will face in the first four weeks of the season if he wins the starting job:
Week 1: Sunday, September 11 @ Cardinals
Week 2: Sunday, September 18 vs Dolphins
Week 3: Thursday, September 22 vs Texans
Week4: Sunday, October 2 vs Bills
Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell doesn’t seem intimidated by the prospect of facing Garoppolo in Week 1:
“Licking my chops,” Campbell said Wednesday on CBS Sports Radio’s “Tiki and Tierney.” “You get a rookie quarterback, pretty much, it’s always exciting when you get a guy like that for his first game because he’s going to be nervous. He’s probably going to be sitting there holding the ball a little longer or trying to get rid of it quick, throwing bad balls. As a vet, we definitely pride ourselves on welcoming (inexperienced quarterbacks) the right way.”
Bill Belichick’s impression of Garoppolo after the 2015 season:
“Everywhere. I think Jimmy has made great strides for us this season,” Belichick said at the end of the 2015 season.”The reps that he’s gotten on the field in preseason games and in practice, I think he’s shown a lot of development – better understanding, quicker recognition and reading of the defenses, more awareness of what’s happening on the defensive side of the ball, better communication, better understanding of the offense, better understanding of the defense – really everything. I think we see it on a daily basis from Jimmy. He’s a hard working kid who’s always prepared.”
Tom Brady’s impression of Garoppolo during offseason activities in 2014:
“I really enjoy working with him,” Brady said in June 2014. “I think he’s obviously a very talented young man. It’s been fun to be out here. He works hard every day.”
Watch his only pro touchdown:
In the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ 41-14 blowout of the Patriots in Week 4, Garoppolo hit Rob Gronkowski for a 13-yard touchdown.
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