Hall Of Famer Expects Sharper Quarterbacking From Niners With Garoppolo Starting Again

The San Francisco 49ers will technically look as it was before with Jimmy Garoppolo back as the team’s starting quarterback this NFL season.

This developed after Trey Lance suffered a season-ending foot injury. It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for the 22-year-old play-caller as he was supposed to start a new era of Niners football.

For the Niners, being able to retain Garoppolo turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The two-time Super Bowl champion agreed to a restructured deal to stay in San Francisco although this is expected to change next NFL offseason.

Given that head coach, Kyle Shanahan was prepping for the Trey Lance era, there were concerns about the plays that the Niners planned to execute. According to the 49ers coach, there were hardly any iterations despite the observation of critics.

“We put all the same stuff in last year too, so it’s not as big of a difference as people think,” Shanahan explained. “You’re running really the exact same runs. Just do you want to get in pistol and read someone, or do you want to hand it off and not read them? It doesn’t change as much as people think.”

Also, Pro Football Hall of Famer coach Tony Dungy expects the offense of the Niners to be better with Garoppolo back as starting QB.

“I think, will be -- not just could be,” Dungy said. “I think they will be [better] in the short term.”

In his opinion, the 49ers should be 25% better on offense in the coming weeks with Garoppolo and the debuting George Kittle.

“I’d say Garoppolo playing and getting Kittle back, they’re going to be 25-percent better on offense in the next three weeks just with that happening,” Dungy said. “[I’m] not talking about the long term and where Trey Lance might be down the road, but I just think their offense is going to look sharper here in the upcoming couple of weeks.”