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San Francisco 49ers: 4 players who’ll benefit the most from Jimmy Garoppolo’s return

By Peter Panacy

SANTA CLARA, CA - SEPTEMBER 16: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers congratulates Garrett Celek #88 after Celek caught a touchdown pass against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium on September 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA - SEPTEMBER 16: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers congratulates Garrett Celek #88 after Celek caught a touchdown pass against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium on September 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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SANTA CLARA, CA – SEPTEMBER 16: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers in action against the Detroit Lions at Levi’s Stadium on September 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA – SEPTEMBER 16: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers in action against the Detroit Lions at Levi’s Stadium on September 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

The return of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo from his 2018 ACL tear should help the offense everywhere, but these four stand to benefit the most this season.

As Pro Football Talk’s Peter King pointed out, the San Francisco 49ers are 6-2 over the last two seasons when quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo started, compared to 4-18 over that same stretch without him.

The Niners didn’t envision that being the case in 2018, of course. But Garoppolo’s devastating ACL tear in Week 3 last year against the Kansas City Chiefs all but thwarted whatever lofty hopes head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co. had a season ago.

Entering 2019, San Francisco is looking for Garoppolo to live up to his franchise billing — the same one that netted a one-time record-high five-year, $137.5 million contract heading into the 2018 season.

Garoppolo will upgrade the offense. In turn, the 49ers’ moves on the offensive side of the ball should help Garoppolo, too.

Yet there are going to be a specific number of Niners players who stand to benefit the most from Garoppolo’s return this season.

Here are four of them.

SANTA CLARA, CA – NOVEMBER 01: Laken Tomlinson #75 of the San Francisco 49ers walks off the field after defeating the Oakland Raiders 34-3 in their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium on November 1, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA – NOVEMBER 01: Laken Tomlinson #75 of the San Francisco 49ers walks off the field after defeating the Oakland Raiders 34-3 in their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium on November 1, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images) /

No. 4: Offensive Guard Laken Tomlinson

Garoppolo’s impact isn’t just going to be felt by his pass catchers. If anything, he should make life much easier for his offensive linemen, too.

Case in point, Pro Football Focus ranked the Niners’ 2017 pass protection 14th in the league that year. But in the final five games in which Garoppolo started, this metric ranked third in the entire NFL.

One of the prime beneficiaries was left guard Laken Tomlinson, whose 66.4 overall PFF grade ranked 33rd out of 63 qualifiers at his position that year.

With Garoppolo under center, however, Tomlinson graded out as an elite guard, according to PFF’s Jeff Deeney:

Tomlinson was PFF’s 26th-ranked offensive guard last season. But if the trend continues, and he winds up thriving again with Garoppolo under center, it wouldn’t be a shock if the 49ers enjoy a top-tier performance from their 2017 trade pickup.