With the pads coming on in training camp, it finally feels like football season is here. And this will be our first time to see how Jimmy Garoppolo looks under center with the Raiders.
But what caliber of quarterback are the Raiders getting this season? Garoppolo certainly isn’t an elite passer, but is he going to be good enough?
In a recent article by The Athletic, they interviewed 50 NFL coaches and asked them to rank the quarterbacks by tiers. Jimmy Garoppolo was ranked in Tier 3, along with players such as Derek Carr, Russell Wilson, and Jared Goff. Here is what one offensive coach had to say about the new franchise QB in Las Vegas:
“He’s been with teams that can run it, and they do have a good back (Josh Jacobs), and they will probably hand it off a fair amount to take some pressure off, which could be good for Jimmy. He’s a (Tier) 3, but a good 3. Plays like a (Tier) 2 a decent amount of the time.”
The Raiders don’t need Garoppolo to be a superstar. They just need him to play within the system and be efficient. If he can do that, this offense should be one of the best in the league given all of the talent at running back and wide receiver.
However, the Raiders are hopeful that Garoppolo can play like a Tier 2 QB more often than not as he’s done so in the past. And if he can stay on the field, the Raiders will have an excellent chance of surpassing expectations during the 2023 season.