Jimmy Garoppolo fell short of the 4,000 passing yard threshold last season. That won’t be the case this year according to the fantasy football projections at The Huddle. They have Garoppolo projected for 4,100 passing yards – which would be the third-highest total in 49ers history.
Last season was Garoppolo’s first time starting 16 games, and he was coming off a torn ACL. A jump to 4,100 yards isn’t exactly a significant improvement on his 3,978 yards last season. Here’s what The Huddle had to say about the 49ers’ signal caller:
After six years in the NFL, Garoppolo finally lasted for 16 games as a starter and ended with 3,978 yards and 27 TDs. He topped 300-yards just three times but threw for 2+ TDs in about half of his games. SF ranked only #29 with 476 pass attempts and yet ranked #2 with 428 rushing attempts. That limits what Garoppolo can do fantasy-wise and almost no yardage or scores as a runner further keeps him in fantasy back-up territory
While a quarterbacking failing to throw for 4,000 in the modern NFL tends to point to an issue with the passer. Last season though Garoppolo’s yardage totals were stunted for a couple reasons.
First, he was coming off that torn ACL and saw a very light workload because of it early in the season. Garoppolo averaged just 27 attempts through the team’s seven games last year. That number leapt to 31.9 over his final nine contests. It stands to reason with a fully healthy offseason under his belt, Garoppolo’s workload should be heavier earlier in the season.
Second, the 49ers’ stout defense was historically great through the first half of the year and just great for the second half. While riding a stingy defense, San Francisco had four games where they won by three-plus scores, and a slew of others they had wrapped up early. Garoppolo had several games where he didn’t need to throw it all over the yard.
It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see a regression from San Francisco’s defense this year that forces Garoppolo to use his right arm to win games.
While he wasn’t prolific from a volume standpoint, he was exceptionally efficient. Garoppolo’s 8.4 yards per attempt were the third-highest in the NFL, and the highest among quarterbacks with 16 starts.
If his YPA stays stagnant and his attempts hang around that 31.9 per game mark, Garoppolo will cruise to 4,100 yards and eclipse Jeff Garcia’s single-season franchise record of 4,278 yards.
The biggest factors in Garoppolo’s fantasy value will be his usage and his turnover rate. It looks like he’s on track to see a jump in attempts, and if he cuts down on his 13 interceptions, Garoppolo could be an extremely valuable fantasy pick. He’s currently the 181st player in The Huddle’s top 200, and the No. 19 quarterback. Waiting until late to scoop up Garoppolo is a low-risk, high-reward move that could wind up winning a league.
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