Why 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo, Dante Pettis will break out together in 2019

The San Francisco 49ers are poised to have two of their offensive standouts, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and wide receiver Dante Pettis, form a dynamic breakout pairing in 2019. Here’s why.

While there’s inevitably going to be a lot of attention given to San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle in 2019, fans should focus on another budding chemistry between two other notable Niners offensive contributors, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and wide receiver Dante Pettis.

We didn’t exactly get to see much of this connection last year, considering Garoppolo’s season-ending ACL injury in Week 3 and Pettis’ relatively sluggish start to his pro career.

There was that pretty impressive touchdown grab from Jimmy G to Pettis in Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings, though.

Heading into 2019, however, there’s going to be a good deal of pressure for this tandem to develop some serious chemistry.

Looking at the subject matter, there’s an excellent chance it happens.

Consider Pettis’ numbers his rookie year. Sure, he managed only 467 receiving yards, which isn’t indicative of a true No. 1 threat. But when one factors in 359 of those yards came in the final five games last season — an average of 71.8 yards per contest during that span — the production levels start to look more like a bona fide receiving threat.

There’s this, too, from Pro Football Focus:

Another thing to consider is how effective Pettis already is at creating immediate separation at the line of scrimmage.

Case in point, check out the video below of Pettis’ Week 14 touchdown against the Denver Broncos (Pettis is at the bottom of the screen):

It wasn’t uncommon to see Pettis beat his cover man right at the line of scrimmage, which led to the separation. In the above case, Denver’s goal-line defense didn’t provide for any safety help over the top, leading to one-on-one coverage, which Pettis won.

In non-red-zone situations, however, one will have to factor in safety play. This is where Kittle comes in, as it won’t be a shock to see a strong-side safety look towards covering the Pro Bowl tight end, leaving Pettis better chances to beat his man.

Especially off the line.

This is where Garoppolo’s benefit comes into play, too.

Jimmy G has his been working on his deep-ball abilities since joining the 49ers in 2017, yes. But it’s not his total strong suit. As this 2018 PFF article pointed out, Garoppolo’s best target area was within 10 to 19 yards, which is where Pettis’ early separation will be felt the most.

To ensure those initial breaks are going Pettis’ way, the second-year receiver is reportedly adding weight.

Garoppolo noticed, as he told reporters (h/t Niners Wire’s Kyle Madson):

"Yeah. Dante, I think his body is maturing too. He’s coming out of breaks with power. His speed, it doesn’t look like he’s moving very fast, but he really is. It’s a weird thing for a quarterback to get used to. He’s different than most guys running. Where Marquise [Goodwin] looks like he’s running really fast and he is running really fast where Dante it’s different. Being able to get on the same page as him I think these last couple of weeks and everything has been very important."

Seeing these two polish chemistry between now and Week 1 appears to be a vital step in San Francisco’s attempt to create one of the more dynamic offenses in the league under head coach Kyle Shanahan.

And while the majority of defenses are likely to focus their pass defense efforts on Kittle, Garoppolo finding Pettis should be a connection primed to break out in 2019.