The Dynasty Fantasy Football Impact of Jimmy Garoppolo signing with Las Vegas

Ken Kelly Posted On March 13, 2023

When the Raiders gave Derek Carr his walking papers (which he used to fly to New Orleans because walking there would have been too far), they left themselves a gaping hole at quarterback. In fact, going into today, they had only someone named Chase Garbers at the helm of the franchise. There was a lot of speculation out there surrounding possible trade targets (Aaron Rodgers), draft possibilities (Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Anthony Richardson, Will Levis), or perhaps a free agent target. Well, the speculation was quickly put to rest as the Raiders signed Jimmy Garoppolo to a three-year contract worth up to $72.75 million. The deal has some real dynasty ramifications (and fantasy writing ramifications as all of us will continue to make sure we spell Garoppolo correctly the next three years), so let’s re-set the landscape.

Jimmy Garoppolo, QB LV

There’s really no doubting the talent of Jimmy G. Over his nine seasons, he’s 40-17 in the games he’s started for the Patriots and the 49ers. In fact, he’s thrown for over 14,000 yards with a respectable touchdown-to-interception ratio of 87:42. Now in Las Vegas, Garoppolo will be reunited with Head Coach Josh McDaniels and run an offense he’s very familiar with. There’s no reason to think Garoppolo shouldn’t flourish in the system and put up similar numbers to what Derek Carr did over the better part of the last decade.

Oh, wait. There’s one.

Yes, no update on Garoppolo is complete without mentioning one very important statistic – he was only able to finish one of his six seasons in San Francisco healthy. Yes. One. In fact, over his nine years in the NFL, Garoppolo has dealt with a shoulder A/C joint sprain, a torn ACL, a high ankle sprain, a calf strain, a thumb fracture, a torn thumb ligament, another shoulder sprain, and a foot fracture that ended his season prematurely last year. Simply put, that’s a laundry list fit for the Brady Bunch.

If Jimmy G can stay healthy, there’s no reason he couldn’t throw for close to 4,000 yards and touchdowns in the mid-20s. That would put him in the QB1/2 category and make him a pretty viable streamer at worst. However, dynasty owners just can’t build around him or they could get stuck holding the bag. Make no mistake here. Garoppolo is no upgrade to Derek Carr outside of the fact he cost the Raiders a lot less money. Garoppolo’s ADP had sunk down past 210 and this move should boost it back up now that we know he’s a starter again. However, anyone taking too big of a plunge on him just seems destined to get burned by his constant injuries. Let’s hope we’re wrong, but history is just not on his side on this one.

Jarrett Stidham, QB DEN

Right before the signing of Garoppolo was announced, it was reported Stidham had signed with the Denver Broncos on two-year deal worth $10 million. Another former Patriot, Stidham has looked more than capable in limited work and should give the Broncos a bit of a safety net should Russell Wilson continue to faceplant. His departure also leaves Las Vegas with a gaping hole at their backup quarterback position. This has the looks of a sneaky good signing for Denver and a tough loss for the Raiders, as Stidham at least gives the Broncos some insurance if things go from bad to worse. Stidham is currently unranked, but he could sneak into the top 40 at the position now that we know where he’ll be playing. He would have been really good insurance for Las Vegas, though.

Davante Adams and Darren Waller, LV

You can bet this pair likely wanted to see A-A-Ron end up in the Silver and Black, but in the end, it just wasn’t meant to be. Still, things could have been a lot worse. Garoppolo should have the ability to put up relatively similar numbers to what Derek Carr has over the past few seasons and both of these players should have little problem maintaining their value, though a Garoppolo injury could be very problematic down the road for both of them. As for the rest of the Raiders offense, you have to like the move as it at least maintains player value across the board for the time being.

Brock Purdy, QB SF

The play of Purdy was pretty inspiring last season as “Mr. Irrelevant” took San Francisco all the way to the NFC Championship game before he was injured early in that same game. It’s really anyone’s guess as to who the 49ers quarterback of the future is at the moment. San Francisco gave up a ton for Trey Lance, but Purdy was amazing last season. He’ll need to recover quickly from elbow surgery, but having Garoppolo out of town takes one more competitor of his out of the mix. After what we saw last year, you have to like his long-term chances.

Trey Lance, QB SF

Much like Purdy, Lance now has one more quarterback out of the way. However, his ADP has suffered since his season ending injury last year and he will now have to really contend with Purdy (and even the newly signed Sam Darnold) to get back at the helm in San Francisco. He’s one of the biggest question marks in all of fantasy football and that’s simply not going to change until we see long-term consistency in terms of his production and health.

49ers Offense

It’s hard to see the loss of Garoppolo as really anything positive or negative for the group consisting of Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, and others. The fact is, Garoppolo just wasn’t on the field enough to really boost their values any in the first place. Besides, we also saw Kyle Shanahan find a way to maintain the values of all these players with a player who was picked one slot ahead of anyone reading this article. In short, they’re fine.

Aaron Rodgers, QB GB? NYJ?

With Las Vegas finding their short-term answer in the form of Jimmy G, it really does look like it’s New York or retirement for Rodgers.

Quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft

Here’s where things get interesting. The Raiders are still sitting at the seventh spot overall in the upcoming NFL Draft. With the Panthers moving up to #1, it’s quite likely we see Bryce Young, and CJ Stroud as the first two picks in the draft (in some order). The Colts are likely to take Anthony Richardson, or Will Levis if that happens. With the Cardinals not likely looking at a quarterback at #3 and the Seahawks re-signing Geno Smith, it’s quite possible the Raiders could have two of the top four quarterbacks on the board when the clock starts ticking for them (though the Lions at #6 could throw a monkey wrench into that). It’s going to be very, very tempting for them to take a hard look at a signal caller there, especially with Garoppolo on a short-term deal and the ability for them to allow a young quarterback to sit and develop. Hmmm.

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Ken Kelly

Co-Founder at DynastyLeagueFootball

Ken is a corporate trainer by day an a tireless editor of dynasty content by night. His passion for the World Champion Seattle Seahawks is second only to his love of fantasy football and the dynasty format.

Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK