Tap the brakes on Jimmy Garoppolo hype train

It wasn’t too long ago everyone was drooling over Derek Carr, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota. They were quickly put aside for Carson Wentz, Jared Goff and DeShaun Watson. But those six young quarterbacks are yesterday’s news. It’s all about Jimmy Garoppolo now — Mr. Jimmy GQ.

In the NFL, it’s what have you done for me lately. The hype train for Garoppolo is going 180 miles per hour with many pundits already calling the 49ers signal-caller a top-five quarterback. Some have boldly said they would rather have Garoppolo over the six aforementioned quarterbacks for the next 10 years.

Look, I’m buying the Garoppolo stock, too. But can we all step on the brakes for a second?

This is the NFL; defenses make adjustments. He has yet to face a team for a second time during his six career starts. That’s right, six career starts, and to put him top five in a league with Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Cam Newton, Andrew Luck and Drew Brees is absurd.

Just a year ago, Carr was the darling of the NFL with his last-minute heroics. Now the 2016 MVP candidate is being called the second best quarterback in the Bay Area behind a guy with S-I-X career starts.

Yes, Carr is having a bad year. But bad seasons often happen to best quarterbacks in the league not named Brady and Rodgers.

Newton went from a Super Bowl appearance and MVP in 2015 to a nightmare season in 2016. He’s back to being “Super Cam” with the Panthers at 11-4 this season.

Another example, Matt Ryan had a quiet three-year stretch before exploding last season to win the MVP and NFC title. He took a step back this year under first-year offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Ryan’s career year came under Kyle Shanahan, who’s now making Garoppolo look good in San Francisco.

Coaches leave. Rosters change. Injuries occur. Bad seasons happen.

Carr, Winston and Mariota need to find their Shanahan or Sean McVay, who helped Goff shake off a dreadful rookie year.

Carr has taken the bulk of the heat for the Raiders’ disappointing 2017 because he plays under center and was paid $125 million to produce like an elite quarterback. But quarterbacks deserve to be overpaid.

Kirk Cousins is set to break the bank this offseason. He’s a solid quarterback, but he doesn’t have the potential of Carr, Mariota or Winston. You never let a good quarterback go unless you have a top draft pick or father time wants him.

The Raiders quarterback deserves a pass. He’s playing with a broken bone in his back, didn’t have an offseason to improve because of a broken fibula, his receivers can’t create separation and his offensive coordinator runs a predictable offense.

Mariota is also going through the same thing in Tennessee after having offseason surgery and playing under an offensive system that belongs in the 1990s, not in today’s spread-out approach.

It’s not fair to write off these young quarterbacks after one bad season. Teams like the Browns, Broncos, Jets and Dolphins would do anything to have one of the quarterbacks mentioned in this story.

Enjoy the Garoppolo magic. He’s an exciting quarterback with plenty of upside. But let’s not anoint Jimmy GQ yet. Let him play in a playoff game first. Or at least a full season.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GManzano24 on Twitter.