After Failing To Trade Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers' Season Now Has Clearer Picture

Road favorites look for 2-1 start in Denver on Sunday Night Football

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It's been a roller coaster for the San Francisco 49ers and their quarterback situation, and the latest turn is the biggest one yet. With Trey Lance now done for the year with an ankle injury, the inability to move Jimmy Garoppolo in the offseason now has actually saved the 49ers' season, while simultaneously clouding their long-term future.

Jimmy G is the stater all the way through 2022, and in a wide-open NFC, San Francisco may have just vaulted themselves near the top of the conference. Sitting at +900 to win the NFC on BetMGM, you can expect those odds to shorten if they continue to look like a team that just went to the NFC title game last year, and that starts with a likely win on Sunday Night Football against the struggling Broncos.

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This was always a possibility, but it only helps in the short term. Lance was supposed to be the long-term guy, and moving Garoppolo would've been the final piece to handing over the future to the 2021 No. 3 overall pick. Then, came the shoulder injury that kept teams away from Garoppolo, and as organizations that needed someone at the position made their moves, the musical chairs ended, leaving the team and their former starter standing there empty-handed, eventually agreeing to a restructured deal for a backup role.

It was never good for Lance's confidence or development, but it was a great parachute for a team should a major injury or big-time struggles show up with Lance.

And here we are.

Now, Jimmy G is once again the starter, and the 49ers have a much clearer picture for at least this season. Instead of being left with rookie seventh-rounder Brock Purdy to fill Lance's shoes, it's a quarterback that has a 98.4 QB rating over his career in San Francisco, with 67 touchdowns and 38 interceptions, while going to a Super Bowl and NFC Championship game as a starter.

Sometimes the universe works in mysterious ways.

Long-term, we still have no idea what Lance can be as a starter. It could work out, or he could flop, but that's for this team to figure out in the offseason, when Garoppolo can leave in free agency and never have to look back.

For now though, in a conference that, besides the Eagles, has left us with far more questions than answers through the first two weeks, the 49ers have wiped away the steam on the mirror, revealing a team we've seen before. It's a team that's had its fair share of success, and could find themselves picking up right where they left off last season.

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