4 reasons 49ers must stick to starting Trey Lance, not Jimmy Garoppolo
By Peter Panacy
Reason No. 3: 49ers open up the field with Trey Lance passing
Aside from the rushing abilities, there were two specific elements Trey Lance showcased in Week 17 that Jimmy Garoppolo doesn’t have:
- The ability to throw deep
- The ability to throw outside the numbers
Garoppolo rarely challenges the sidelines, instead relying heavily on over-the-middle plays. And he’s not known for being a deep passer either, as his Next Gen Stats intended air-yard metric is just 7.4, which is tied for 10th lowest among qualifiers.
It wouldn’t be bad if Garoppolo protected the ball well enough. But considering his 2.4 interception percentage is hovering around his career mark of 2.6, that can’t be a bonus either.
Instead, take a look at NBC Sports’ Chris Simms’ breakdown of Next Gen Stats passing charts from both Garoppolo and Lance’s last games, paying close attention to the passing areas deep down the field and outside the numbers:
Might sound counterintuitive, but Trey Lance's passing style is less risky than Jimmy Garoppolo's. Throws outside the numbers/downfield where are there are fewer defenders. While Jimmy G throws it over the middle where there is tons of traffic with small margin for error pic.twitter.com/JFzNejBYM8
— Chris Simms (@CSimmsQB) January 3, 2022
Garoppolo’s attempts are bunched in the middle of the field, rarely extending beyond 10 yards from the line of scrimmage.
Lance, however, can hit those targets Garoppolo has frequently found elusive, and that might prove to be a key difference-maker in every game San Francisco has from this point onward.