Getty Image / David Berding
Earlier this week, a couple of Kirk Cousins’ fellow NFL quarterbacks named him the league’s most underrated QB.
During an interview promoting “Quarterback” for Netflix, Patrick Mahomes and Marcus Mariota agreed that Cousins is deserving of that title.
Cousins believes that title should belong to someoe else.
He believes that Jimmy Garoppolo is actually the most underrated quarterback in the NFL.
We asked Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota who they think most underrated quarterback in the NFL is. pic.twitter.com/R6dMDwSS9T
— Netflix (@netflix) July 20, 2023
“I kind of always scratch my head at the Jimmy Garoppolo situation in San Francisco, because I know how hard it is to win in this league,” Cousins said. “And it seems like every time he goes out there, they win. And then, they’re moving on from him or trying to draft somebody and trade up, and I’m thinking, ‘It’s pretty hard to win double-digit games in this league and that’s all they seem to do when the plays.’ So obviously I don’t know all that goes on there, but if he does it again with the Raiders, at some point, this guy’s just a winner.”
The decision the 49ers made 2 years ago to replace Garoppolo was a pretty big surprise to football fans. At the time that the 9ers traded up to land Trey Lance, they were just a year removed from Jimmy G having led them to a Super Bowl.
The team struggled with injuries the year after that run, but still appeared built to contend and they’ve done exactly that since.
Garoppolo led the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game in 2021 and then they made it back in 2022 with Brock Purdy after Garoppolo was injured.
He’ll find himself in a very different situation with the Las Vegas Raiders.
The 49ers’ defense allowed the league’s least points per game last season. The Raiders allowed the 7th most.
Garoppolo will have to do a lot more to get wins in Vegas than he did in San Francisco.
If Jimmy Garoppolo can turn the Raiders into a playoff, it would serve as pretty good evidence that Kirk Cousins was right about him.