Jimmy Garoppolo: Why new 49ers quarterback is making all the difference

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SANTA CLARA, CA – NOVEMBER 26: Louis Murphy #18 of the San Francisco 49ers catches a touchdown pass thrown by Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium on November 26, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

49ers Statistical Comparisons with and without Jimmy Garoppolo

Here’s an easy statistic to get you even more excited about Jimmy Garoppolo. According to 49ers.com’s Joe Fann, Garoppolo is the first quarterback in Niners history to accumulate 1,008 yards in three starts.

That’s pretty special. And it comes with a less-than-stellar supporting cast, a limited knowledge of Kyle Shanahan’s offense and a porous offensive line.

But the eye test, and film, sure make it seem as if we’re watching two different offenses.

Garoppolo’s stats with San Francisco back this up. Just check out his 2017 game logs:

Jimmy Garoppolo 2017 Games Table
						Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass
Date	Week		Opp	Result	GS	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Int	Rate	Sk	Yds	Y/A	AY/A
2017-11-26	12		SEA	L 13-24		2	2	100.00	18	1	0	143.7	0	0	9.00	19.00
2017-12-03	13	@	CHI	W 15-14	*	26	37	70.27	293	0	1	82.4	2	15	7.92	6.70
2017-12-10	14	@	HOU	W 26-16	*	20	33	60.61	334	1	1	92.2	2	20	10.12	9.36
2017-12-17	15		TEN	W 25-23	*	31	43	72.09	381	1	0	106.8	3	18	8.86	9.33
Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco	Upco
49er	49er	49er	49er	49er	49er	49er	49er	49er	49er	49er	49er	49er	49er	49er	49er	49er

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/18/2017.

Garoppolo is completing 68.7 percent of his passes for a net passer rating of 98.0. And we may recall his Week 13 interception against the Bears, which was more of a strip fumble than a pure pick.

In comparison, Brian Hoyer had a completion percentage of 58.0 with San Francisco, while C.J. Beathard’s was 54.9. So it should be a shock to see both of their passer ratings — 75.0 and 69.2, respectively, in the bottom five of qualifying quarterbacks this season.

Here’s another stat to chew on — the 49ers have averaged 22 first downs over Garoppolo’s three starts. Before that, the offense was averaging just 18.5, and that includes the whopping 25 from San Francisco’s Week 3 shootout loss versus the Los Angeles Rams.

Yeah, Garoppolo makes the players around him better too.