Trey Lance is the 49ers’ biggest question mark going into the 2022 season. His ability to overcome his inexperience will determine just how high San Francisco’s ceiling is, and it won’t be easy stepping in to replace veteran Jimmy Garoppolo who led the club to the NFC championship game in the only two seasons where he started a majority of the 49ers’ games. There’ll undoubtedly be ups and downs for Lance with some struggles on things that were easy to an experienced veteran like Garoppolo. However, there’s one very key area Lance should offer an immediate improvement.
NFL Wire’s Doug Farrar wrote a piece breaking down the NFL’s worst quarterbacks against every type of coverage. Garoppolo’s name shows up late in the piece as the league’s worst signal caller near the goal line. Via Farrar:
One of those limitations in 2021 was Garoppolo’s performance in the red zone — specifically against red zone coverage. There, he completed two of 10 passes for three yards, three air yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, an ANY/A of 4.3, and a passer rating of 79.2. Those touchdown/interception numbers seem pretty good, but when you look at all the incompletions close to the goal line, a clearer picture emerges.
