Vikings’ Sam Darnold, Rams’ Jimmy Garoppolo profited from exposure to 49ers’ system

The 49ers had their say in the NFL Playoffs even if they weren’t good enough to get an invitation.

Coach Kyle Shanahan is an influencer on both sides of Monday night’s first-round game in Arizona between Minnesota and the Los Angeles Rams. It was Shanahan who helped set up Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold to go from bust to potential big-money free agent. He’s also responsible for the riches bestowed upon Rams backup Jimmy Garoppolo.

It’s a huge game for Darnold, who could either wind up back in Minnesota with mega deal after accepting $10 million to be a placeholder for first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy or sign a similarly big deal as a free agent. With a year under his belt trained in the Shanahan system as Brock Purdy’s backup, Darnold reinvented himself after washing out with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers.

The Vikings went 14-3, with Darnold totaling career-highs in passing yards (4,319) and touchdowns (35) to 12 interceptions.

Garoppolo, the backup to Matthew Stanford with the Rams, has already taken his Shanahan experience to the bank with career earnings of $151,841,145 — with $121,687,099 paid out by the 49ers from 2017 through 2022 according to overthecap.com.

It’s at least mildly amusing since Shanahan isn’t likely on Garoppolo’s Christmas card list even if he played a big role in Jimmy G becoming a rich man.

Now 11 years in, Garoppolo is viewed as a backup after signing to be the Raiders starter in 2023 and lasting seven games with six starts before ending up with the Rams. He’ll remain in consideration to end his career that way for as long as he desires with the Rams or some other team.

As for the 49ers, their participation over the weekend was limited to Christian McCaffrey in commercials with Matthew McConaughy debating whether football was simply a vehicle to sell food, George Kittle hawking snack crackers and Fred Warner as a panelist on ESPN’s NFL Countdown.

Some additional Week 1 playoff thoughts as viewed through a 49ers’ lens . . .

Ryans over Harbaugh: DeMeco Ryans, the former 49ers defensive coordinator, has the Texans moving on after a 34-12 win over the Chargers, who are in their first year under former 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh (2011-14). Ryans’ offensive coordinator, Bobby Slowik, was a Shanahan assistant from 2017-22. Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator, Greg Roman, was his offensive coordinator with San Francisco. Also on the Harbaugh staff is former 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman.

The Texans were a relatively unimpressive 10-7 and hadn’t played a game nearly as good as the one they put together Saturday. After a season of statistical decline similar to Purdy this season, quarterback C.J. Stroud was shaky in the first two series but then snapped out of it with his best game of the season, completing 22-of-33 passes for 282 yards and a touchdown. One of Houston’s defensive starter is former 49er Azeez Al-Shaair.

The Peters principle: Hard to have a better first year than Adam Peters no matter how it ends for the Washington Commanders. The Washington general manager, right-hand man to 49ers GM John Lynch since 2021, was hired in January of 2024 to rebuild a fractured franchise. A 23-20 win over host Tampa Bay only adds to a remarkable turnaround.

Peters hired Dan Quinn as head coach, drafted Jayden Daniels, signed veteran Bobby Wagner and made enough good moves to pull the franchise out of the Dan Snyder gutter, restoring sanity to the nation’s capital. As if that’s an easy task.

The Allen comp: The dynamic overall performance of Josh Allen in a 31-7 win over Denver brings to mind the Shanahan-Lynch blunder in 2021 when they traded up to No. 3 to draft Trey Lance. Allen, who completed 20-of-26 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns, was explosive and talented coming out of Wyoming but not a pinpoint passer. He was the most common comparison for Lance, who wound up losing out to Purdy and this year was a third-string quarterback in Dallas.

Put a cap on it: Here’s your yearly reminder that while the salary cap will have an impact on how the 49ers are assembled, let’s not get carried away with the notion that they’re so strapped with a Purdy deal due it will restrict their ability to add to the roster.

The Broncos took it on the chin against the Bills, but keep in mind they made the playoffs the year they took on $85 million in dead money over this season and next season because coach Sean Payton didn’t want Russell Wilson as his quarterback.

If the 49ers wanted to cut or trade Deebo Samuel — $31 million of dead money be damned — they can do it by with some cap basic cap manipulation. NFL teams almost never part with a player they truly want to keep. Instead, they cut them and blame the cap.

“We’re not in the business of letting good players out of here,” Lynch said Wednesday.

There was a player named Samuel wearing No. 1 doing playoff damage Sunday, but it was Curtis Samuel of Buffalo.

Green Bay faceplant: The Packers bore no resemblance on offense to the team that crushed the 49ers 38-10 on Nov. 24. Beset by penalties (8 for 85 yards) and four turnovers, the only reason the Packers hung around was a strong effort on defense in a 22-10 loss.

Even that wasn’t enough against an Eagles team whose defense — coached by former 49er coordinator Vic Fangio — made quarterback Jordan Love error-prone and off target. Fangio is one of the reasons the Eagles have recovered from last year’s blowout at the hands of the 49ers in Philadelphia.

Rest assured there’s a segment of 49ers fans looking at Love’s big contract (average per year $55 million) and wondering about doing something similar for Purdy.

The amount of pressure exerted on quarterbacks by both teams stood in stark contrast to a 49ers’ pass rush that must be upgraded if they hope to join the party next season.

Persistence and balance: Not sure what Shanahan admired more about Round 1: Watching Baltimore run the ball 50 times in a 28-14 win over the Steelers (albeit with quarterback Lamar Jackson carrying 15 times) or Buffalo coming into the game with coordinator Joe Brady orchestrating the first offense in NFL history to have 30 or more rushing touchdowns (30) or 30 or more passing touchdowns (30).

Shanahan has long considered 30 rushing attempts in a game to be a key indicator of success, and he’s so fixated on balance that his 24-play pregame script always includes 12 runs and 12 passes.

A familiar look: Kittle was only involved in a commercial sense, but Philadelphia’s Dallas Goedert did a pretty fair Kittle impression when he caught a short pass from Jalen Hurts and brutalized Green Bay defensive back Carrington Valentine with a broken tackle and stuff arm en route to 24-yard touchdown that helped decide the game.