By: Andy Davies

The San Francisco 49ers are one of the most successful franchises in NFL history. Only the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers (both 6) have more Super Bowl wins than the 49ers (5). The 49ers’ five Super Bowls all came between the years of 1981 and 1994. They have lost two since, in the 2012 and 2019 seasons. The quarterbacks that led the 49ers to the Lombardi Trophy were Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Steve Young. Three of those five wins saw Montana as the starter and Young as the backup.

Young is seen by many as the best backup quarterback in history, considering the gold jacket that he earned despite many years as the backup to Montana. He would win a Super Bowl as the starter after the franchise moved on from Montana. Ever since Young decided to hang up his cleats, the 49ers have struggled to find his replacement. Have they found the guy in Trey Lance?

Perhaps, but here is why the quarterback situation involving Lance and current starter Jimmy Garoppolo could prevent the 49ers from winning the NFC West during the 2021 season.

Struggles Since Young

Jeff Garcia was the man to come in for Young. During his five seasons in the Bay, he threw for 113 touchdowns and 56 interceptions as well as 16,408 passing yards. He had a 35-36 record as a starter for the 49ers in the regular season and a 1-2 record in the postseason, meaning he never hit the heights of his predecessor.

Alex Smith was the number one overall pick in 2005, shattering Aaron Rodgers’ dreams. However, he was a good quarterback, not a great quarterback. Colin Kaepernick replaced Smith and took the 49ers to the Super Bowl. They ended up losing to the Baltimore Ravens in a game often called the ”˜Blackout Bowl’. Kaepernick failed to live up to the standards he set that season.

He would be kicked out of the league for taking the knee in a protest against police brutality in 2016. He has not played a snap in the NFL since. Jimmy Garoppolo was traded from the Patriots to the 49ers midway through the 2017 season. He gave hope to the organization after winning all five of the games he started in 2017. The fanbase had hope going into the 2018 season.

Many non-49ers fans had San Francisco down as their dark horse for the season. A season-ending injury to Garoppolo in Week 3 saw the starting role shared between Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard. However, the 49ers finished 4-12 as they went into 2019 with the second overall pick. Nick Bosa was selected and transformed the defense of San Francisco and Jimmy G had the best season of his career. He threw for 3,978 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Despite these stats, Garoppolo saw his production limited in the NFC Championship game as the coaching staff decided to use more of their running game. This led to many questions leading to the Super Bowl. The 49ers threw away a ten-point lead in the fourth quarter as they would end up losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 54.

Garoppolo was criticized heavily for an overthrown pass to Emmanuel Sanders that would have given San Francisco back the lead. His 2020 season saw a mixture of poor form and injury. During the 2021 offseason, the 49ers traded up with the Miami Dolphins to gain the number three overall pick. They took Lance with the pick, showcasing their intentions to eventually move off from Garoppolo. There is now talk of whether San Francisco and head coach Kyle Shanahan will start Lance in week one. The other scenarios discussed are either Lance coming in mid-season or sitting out the whole campaign as the backup to Garoppolo. The uncertainty will have a significant impact on the 49ers’ season.

The Strength of the NFC West

This is a problem that will affect all four teams in the best division in the NFL. There is a chance that all four teams can make the playoffs. Los Angeles has an exciting new quarterback in 2009 first overall pick Matthew Stafford. Both the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals have quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray that they would never dream of trading away. Meanwhile, the 49ers’ starting quarterback is largely unpopular by fans, due to a mixture of the overthrown pass in the Super Bowl, his poor 2020 campaign and his injury record.

San Francisco has the least trusted quarterback in the division. With the position being one of the most crucial in all sports, it does not bode well for a team when there is uncertainty in the position. Garoppolo may be benched at some point during the season for Lance. However, the 49ers would be putting a rookie that will still be learning the system into the toughest division in the NFL.

Learning From Mahomes, Jackson, Tua and Burrow

If San Francisco are to help Lance succeed, they will need to take some lessons from recent draft classes. Patrick Mahomes, widely seen as the best quarterback in the league, spent all but one game of his 2017 rookie season as a backup to Alex Smith. The Chiefs then traded Smith the following offseason and Mahomes has never looked back. In his first three full seasons as a starter in the NFL, he has reached two Super Bowls, winning one. He has also been crowned MVP and Super Bowl MVP and reached three successive AFC Championship games. All three have been at home. On the flip side, 2020 first overall pick Joe Burrow started in week one of his rookie year. He wouldn’t last the season, only playing ten games before injury curtailed his first NFL campaign. He was impressive before his injury but there are no guarantees he will be the same player when he returns.

Lamar Jackson was a backup to Joe Flacco during his 2018 rookie year but won the starting role midseason. He has since gone on to win an MVP award and is the future of the franchise. Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins brought Tua Tagovailoa in mid-season but he struggled in his rookie season. He is seen to already be on the hot seat, with many feeling the Dolphins rushed him in. These examples all show there are reasons for the 49ers to be hasty when it comes to choosing when to bring Lance into the starting role.

Lance Or Garoppolo In 2021?

The 49ers will have to decide soon who their starter will be in 2021. Considering Lance has only played one full season (2019), he is likely to start the season as the backup. He only threw for a combined total of 31 passing attempts, two touchdowns and 1 interception across the 2018 and 2020 seasons, albeit the latter campaign being disrupted by the pandemic. He is likely to be a work in progress but his 28 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in 2019 mean that he is one for the future.

Garoppolo will likely start in week one but it was clear from the NFC Championship game that Shanahan doesn’t completely trust him.

Jimmy G is a capable quarterback but his health is a concern. Expect Garoppolo to remain as the starter provided the 49ers are winning games but for Lance to come in should Garoppolo either be injured or start the season poorly.

Should this happen, this will be the end of Garoppolo’s time in San Francisco. Depending on timing, he will then be traded either before the deadline or in the 2022 offseason.

Can The 49ers Returning Players Avoid A Repeat Of 2020?

This is key if the 49ers are to challenge for both the NFC West and the NFC. After earning the number one seed and reaching Super Bowl 54 during the 2019 campaign, San Francisco finished 6-10 in 2020 and bottom of the division. A ”˜Super Bowl Hangover’ played its part but the main cause of such a decline was down to a colossal amount of injuries the team suffered. Along with the aforementioned Garoppolo, the 49ers also saw Bosa, Dee Ford, George Kittle, Raheem Mostert, Deebo Samuel and Solomon Thomas miss large chunks of the 2020 season due to injury.

San Francisco had 33 players reported questionable and there were 186 occasions when the 49ers reported a player on injured reserve. They had the second-most injuries of any team in the NFL over the past twenty years. Should all these players come back, then this 49ers roster will be one of the best in the league. This will make life much easier for whoever the San Francisco starting quarterback is.

However, from the strength of the division to the uncertainty at quarterback, San Francisco will find it tough to win the NFC West.

The post Why the QB situation may prevent the 49ers from winning the NFC West appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By Zach Attack @FFChalupaBatman

George Kittle, TE for the San Francisco 49ers, has been a stud in the NFL and for fantasy football.  Unless this is about to be your first season watching football and playing fantasy football then you already knew that.  Kittle is coming off an injury-plagued season and the 49ers just drafted a potential franchise QB with the 3^rd pick in the NFL Draft.  How does this affect his dynasty outlook?

Career Stats (2017-2020)

TE Season Ranks

George Kittle is 27 years old and will be turning 28 during the 2021 season.  Kittle has been a top 3 TE in fantasy points per game the last three seasons, and there is no reason that will stop now.  He is a beast at yards after the catch (YAC) with a career average of 7.77 YAC per reception (2018-2020).  Over those same three seasons other top TEs fall short in YAC/R: Waller 6.9, Engram 6.3, Hockenson 5.6 (2019-2020), Kelce 5.1, Andrews 4.4, and Gesicki 3.6.   The most significant component missing from Kittle’s game is scoring TDs!  He hasn’t scored more than 5 TDs in a season, even in 2018 when he played all 16 games and had a career high 136 targets, 88 receptions, and 1,377 yards.

All have those great stats were attained with adequate to sub-par QBs (Garoppolo ”“ 22 games, Mullens ”“ 9 games, Beathard ”“ 8 games).  Jimmy Garoppolo is currently still on the 49ers roster and the starter on the depth chart.  However, by the time the season starts Trey Lance may be the starting QB.  The 49ers gave up a lot of draft capital to move up to the 3^rd pick and selected Trey Lance.  Lance will be the 49ers’ starting QB at some point, either by Week 1, during the season, or by 2022.  Some analysts see Lance as a project QB because he comes from the FCS (North Dakota State) and has only played 19 games (2 in 2018, 16 in 2019, and 1 in 2020).  Trey Lance has a strong arm and great mobility, which should help him perform well as he learns how to adjust to the speed of the NFL and defensive schemes.  Lance is still raw and needs to continue develop his processing skill and reading NFL defenses.  Bottom line, at this point we do not know who will start the most games at QB in 2021 for the 49ers.What does all of this mean for George Kittle’s dynasty value?  No matter how you feel about the QB situation or Kittle coming off an injury-plagued season, he is a top 3 TE.  You could argue Travis Kelce (31 years old) or Darren Waller (28 years old) to be around George Kittle’s value.  Kittle has put up amazing stats without scoring a lot of TDs.  Trey Lance could unlock Shanahan’s offense within the next couple of seasons and Kittle could start putting up double-digit TDs.  If you want to acquire George Kittle then you will need to put together a package with an early 1^st round 2021 pick and at least one young talented player.  If it is a TE premium league than the perception of value will be even higher and it will take more picks/players to acquire George Kittle.  The top tier of TEs is small and Kittle is in that tier, so it will take significant capital to get him on your team.  However, if you are rebuilding and think you are a couple years away from contending then you may want to trade away Kittle sometime during this season.  When it seems like his value is peaking this season you can get a massive haul of young assets and 1^st round picks to continue to help your rebuild because Kittle will be 30 years old in a couple seasons.  Even with the current QB uncertainty, Kittle will continue to be a dominant, high scoring TE and we haven’t seen is best season yet!

The post George Kittle’s dynasty outlook with Trey Lance appeared first on Pro Football Mania.