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As a rookie general manager, John Lynch has a first-year highlight: He traded for Jimmy Garoppolo.

As a former player who won one Super Bowl in his 15-year career, Lynch has a regret: He never played with a quarterback like Jimmy Garoppolo.

Lynch appeared on KNBR this morning and added a bit more fuel to the Garoppolo hype train. He figures he could have enough Super Bowl rings to fill a fist if he’d played with a QB as talented as Garoppolo.

“I say, man, I could have had five rings if I had a guy like that because in Tampa we never had that,” Lynch said, laughing.

Sorry, Craig Erickson, Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson and Shaun King - Lynch’s QBs with the Buccaneers - but it’s not personal: Lynch is among those feeling giddy after Garoppolo elevated a previously 1-10 team in a 15-14 win at Chicago on Sunday in his starting debut with the 49ers.

“To me, I think great leaders, great players … I think the greatest quality that you can't measure: Do they make people around them better?'" Lynch said. "I don't think you can argue that he didn't do that for everybody on the field the other day.”

Indeed, with Garoppolo, Marquise Goodwin had the most catches (8) of his five-year career, rookie Trent Taylor had career-highs in catches (6) and yards (92), the 49ers had their most third-down conversions (10) since 2007 and their leaky offensive line was stout.

What can Garoppolo do for an encore Sunday in Houston? Lynch did his best to temper expectations he’d helped fuel.

“That was impressive to watch, but it was just one start,” Lynch said. “I think everyone can be excited but also pump the brakes and say, ‘Hey, let's go see what we do this week.’ I'm excited for that opportunity.”

Twitter: @Eric_Branch