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Jimmy Garoppolo Has To Know His NFL Audition Is At Hand

By Erik Lambert

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Sep 14, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. The Patriots defeated the Vikings 30-7. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

If anybody who is remotely close to young quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, they will immediately track down tape of the 2008 New England Patriots season when a seldom mentioned backup named Matt Cassel took advantage of a Tom Brady injury to earn himself a $62 million contract the very next season after throwing for 3,693 yards and 21 touchdowns.

That is what happens when a player shows he can get it done at the most important position in football.  Garoppolo now officially is going to have that same chance.  Though he won’t start the entire season like Cassel did since Brady tore his ACL that year and is only suspended the first four games of 2015, it’s still a full month of live bullets game action.

Garoppolo was one of the top quarterback prospects of the 2014 draft, as evidenced by New England spending a 2nd round pick on him.  He has the proper ratio of size, arm strength, mobility and accuracy to excel at the highest level.  The question left to everybody around the league is whether he can do it against the best competition, rather than the soft FCS defenses he saw at Eastern Illinois.

The month of September of 2015 may go down as the most important one of his football life.  While the Patriots will be focused on winning, how Garoppolo is able to function in that offense from an individual standpoint is what other GMs and coaches will be focusing on.  If he plays well, it’s not crazy to think Belichick can regain that 1st round pick the team lost in the Deflategate fiasco.

Provided of course they’re willing to trade him at all.  Suffice to say New England remains must-see television even without their future Hall of Fame quarterback on the field.

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