Kyle Shanahan admits he preferred Jimmy Garoppolo to Johnny Manziel in 2014

In 2014, Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns, and there is a chance that the franchise might be at least a little better off had they listened to some of his own input.

Amid reports that Shanahan had quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Derek Carr rated higher than the team’s actual first-round pick, Johnny Manziel, Shanahan admitted that at least the Garoppolo part was true.

“They had me look at every quarterback and evaluate every quarterback,” Shanahan said Thursday, via Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. “That’s everywhere. They ask you to evaluate everyone and you give grades and you tell people who you want and you wait to see what happens.”

So did the incoming San Francisco 49ers coach really like Garoppolo?

“Yes, I did,” Shanahan said.

Nevertheless, Browns GM Ray Farmer overruled Shanahan and picked Manziel, and it went about as badly as it possibly could have.

“I think people heard me, but the results weren’t there,” Shanahan said. “I think there were a lot of people who liked Garoppolo. There were other quarterbacks we liked, too. We put a board together. We rank every one. Then, the people who make the decisions, you have to wait and see what happens. As a coach, it’s like that at a lot of places. You have to deal with what happens.”

It’s no coincidence, then, that the 49ers have been preemptively linked to Garoppolo. The Browns have been, too, but if they’d listened to Shanahan in the first place, they might already have him.