What You Need to Know:

• Garoppolo ranked top 5 in both completion rate and yards per attempt last year.
• But low passing volume and rushing production left him just 23rd among QBs in fantasy points per game.
• The Niners figure to deploy a similarly run-heavy offense in 2020, leaving Garoppolo as just a spot-start fantasy option.

2019 in review

Garoppolo ranked near the top of the league in most efficiency metrics last season. His 69.1% completion rate was good for 5th among 32 qualifying QBs. His 8.4 yards per attempt ranked 4th. Garoppolo finished 9th in adjusted yards per attempt, which factors in TDs and INTs. He ranked 8th in QB Rating and 13th in Pro Football Focus’ passing grades.

Yet Garoppolo finished just 23rd among QBs in fantasy points per game. His problems: volume and rushing production.

Garoppolo ranked 19th league-wide with 476 pass attempts — 29.8 per game. He topped 35 attempts in just 3 games all season and fell short of 25 attempts 5 times. Tough to produce on such limited opportunity.

Garoppolo was also a zero on the ground, totaling just 62 rushing yards. 31 QBs finished with more.

He did provide some spike weeks. Garoppolo finished as a top-6 fantasy QB in 4 of his 16 outings. But he also had some real killers, ranking outside the top 20 in 7 different weeks.

2020 outlook

Should we expect any of this to change in 2020? The rushing production won’t. Garoppolo trudged to a 4.97-second 40 time at the 2014 Combine and has now averaged 4.4 yards per game across 26 career starts — a full-season pace of 70.

The key to a better fantasy season from Garoppolo will be volume. He was good when he chucked it 35+ times last year, finishing as a top-5 fantasy QB in 3 of 4 such games.

But the 49ers will likely remain a run-heavy offense. They ranked 2nd in both run rate and rush attempts last year — and it worked. San Francisco finished 2nd in points, 4th in total yards and 5th…