Stats Prove 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo Got Insanely Lucky Throughout 2019 Season
By Brendan Balsamo
In 2019, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo appeared to be one of the most dominant quarterbacks in the league. The 49ers started the season 13-0 and went on to Super Bowl LIV down in Miami, on the back of (ostensibly) a comeback season for their signal caller.
However, statistics show he wasn't as dominant as you may have thought; in fact, his underlying numbers compare favorably to Jameis Winston.
7.2% of Jameis Winston's throws in 2019 should have been intercepted. Jimmy Garoppolo threw six in the playoffs to get a rate of 10.4%.
— QB Data Mine (@QBDataMine) April 3, 2020
He was at 4.0% during the regular season, throwing 19 passes that should have been intercepted. pic.twitter.com/tEyxLeY7XL
Winston, the first overall pick from the 2015 NFL Draft, had the first 30 touchdown-30 interception quarterback season in NFL history in 2019, prompting the Bucs to pick up Hall of Famer Tom Brady in free agency. However, there's a chance Garoppolo's season was even worse, but he just got lucky.
According to QB Data Mine on Twitter, Garoppolo's interception rate in the playoffs this past season was 10.4%, 3.2% higher than Winston's in the regular season. That number is a huge difference from his regular season, as his interception percentage during those contests was 4.0%. Either Garoppolo completely changed everything about his game in the playoffs, or he got super lucky during the regular season.
When you break things down by opponent, it's clear Jimmy G was feasting on certain teams during regular season action.
Jimmy Garoppolo played 19 games last season including the playoffs. In two games against the Cardinals, his QB rating was 125.1, but his QB rating the rest of the season was 94.5. I'm not sure he's going to magically turn into 2016 MVP Matt Ryan.
— Iggy (@grantcohn) March 31, 2020
Something tells me the 2019 Cardinals weren't on the docket when he reached the postseason.
We'll see if Garoppolo's elite numbers from 2019 carry over to 2020. Considering he's getting paid $25.2 million by the team in 2020, the 49ers certainly hope they do.