The Las Vegas Raiders’ offense has a ton of potential, with so many different pieces all over the field. But in this day and age of the NFL, quarterbacks are more important than they have ever been and the Raiders believe they have the right man under center in Jimmy Garoppolo.
Much has been made of GM Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels bringing in players with experience in the New England organization, and Garoppolo is arguably the most important former Patriot on the roster. The team moved on from longtime starter Derek Carr and the Raiders believe Garoppolo brings something different this team needs.
Ziegler recently spoke on the Raiders quarterback, noting the things he brings to the franchise. “I’d say an even-keeled-ness, an ability to stay calm and poised and just be a steady influence on the offense,” Ziegler said about the Raiders quarterback.
“And Jimmy [Garoppolo] has a mental toughness that we look for in all players that that we want to bring in. We talk about being smart, tough, dependable, being able to perform at a high level in pressure situations, and we think Jimmy embodies a lot of that, he’s embodied that through his career. We’ve seen that as we’ve continued to grow together since we’ve signed him. And so, we feel like he’s a good leader for what we value at the position and what we value in terms of team building too.”
Garoppolo has garnered a ton of praise from his teammates so far throughout training camp and the preseason for how he has handled things. Garoppolo missed offseason team activities due to injury but has worked extremely hard to make up for it in training camp.
The quarterback got his first game action in the Raiders’ preseason contest against the Rams and acquitted himself well as he completed all four of his passes for 39 yards in the Raiders win. But as Ziegler said, the best thing about Garoppolo may be the mental part of his game.
The ability of a quarterback to keep their emotions in check and not get too high or too low is extremely important. Additionally, his leadership ability has been lauded by teammates already. Some questioned whether the Raiders made the right move in bringing in Garoppolo, but he seems to be the perfect fit for this franchise so far, and as long as he can stay healthy, he has a chance to take the Raiders to the next level.
