Over the 2018 NFL offseason, we will break down some of the key statistics surrounding the San Francisco 49ers\u2019 2017 season. Today, we will analyze the Jimmy Garoppolo Effect on the 2017 Niners\u2019 points-per-drive and scoring percentage.<\/h2>\n

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Last week, we discussed San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo\u2019s effect on the team\u2019s 2017 yards-per-drive statistic. To summarize, with fellow quarterbacks Brian Hoyer<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0C.J. Beathard<\/a> under center, the 49ers averaged 26.6 yards-per-drive, which was the seventh lowest average in the NFL. However, with Garoppolo at quarterback<\/a>, the 49ers averaged over 42 yards-per-drive \u2014 tops in the league in 2017, and more than the historic 2016 Atlanta Falcons<\/a>. You can check out last week\u2019s article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This week, we transition from the important yards-per-drive statistic to the even more telling points-per-drive statistic. Yardage tells a lot of the story, but an offense\u2019s primary objective is to score points, and with a limited number of drives each game, good offenses take advantage of a high percentage of these scoring opportunities.<\/p>\n

As we discussed last week, the correlation between points scored and yards-per-drive is strong. In 2017,\u00a0the New England Patriots were\u00a0second in points scored<\/a>, and led the league with over 39 yards-per-drive; of the top 10 teams in yards-per-drive, six were also in the top 10 in offensive points scored.<\/p>\n

However, the correlation between points scored and points-per-drive is even stronger. In 2017, the top four teams in offensive points scored<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the Los Angeles Rams, the Patriots, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New Orleans Saints \u2014 were also the top four teams in points-per-drive.<\/p>\n

In 2017, the 49ers finished the season near the middle of the pack with 1.8 points-per-drive, but they struggled pre-Garoppolo, managing just 1.4 points-per-drive \u2014 even less than their 1.6 points-per-drive in 2016. However, with Garoppolo under center, the 49ers averaged 2.9 points-per-drive, topping even the league-leading Patriots:<\/p>\n

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While this alone is impressive, when we dig a little deeper, Garoppolo and the 49ers actually had room for improvement. Due to drives that stalled in the red zone \u2014 some of which were mostly outside the control of the QB \u2014 Garoppolo\u2019s 49ers were forced to settle for field goals over touchdowns at a rate that is unlikely to be repeated next season.<\/p>\n

In 2017, only five teams other than the 49ers ended the season with less offensive touchdowns than field goals<\/a>, and each team missed the mark by no more than five touchdowns. Yet in just five games, Garoppolo\u2019s 49ers had a larger field-goal-to-touchdown discrepancy than every other team over the entire 2017 season.<\/p>\n

With such a low field-goal-to-touchdown ratio, how did the 49ers score so many points during their five-game winning streak? Simply, under Garoppolo, the 49ers had the highest scoring percentage in the NFL.<\/p>\n

For perspective, NFL teams scored on 35 percent of their drives in 2017. With Garoppolo under center, the 49ers kicked field goals on an outlandish 36 percent of their drives, converting as many field goal attempts in five weeks as six other NFL teams did in 16 games. Plus, Garoppolo\u2019s 49ers scored touchdowns on an additional 26 percent of their drives \u2014 good for fourth highest in the league.<\/p>\n

In 2017, 62 percent of Garoppolo\u2019s drives ended in a score:<\/p>\n

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While a 62 percent scoring percentage will be quite difficult to repeat, it\u2019s likely that the 49ers\u2019 field-goal-to-touchdown ratio will significantly regress to the mean in 2018. If Garoppolo can continue to score at a high rate, and the team can convert a portion of their field-goal attempts into touchdowns, the 49ers will have one of the NFL\u2019s top offenses in 2018.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned here at Locked On 49ers<\/a>, as we dig into the reasons behind the team\u2019s red-zone problems, and what the San Francisco 49ers \u2014 and Jimmy Garoppolo \u2013 can do to improve in 2018.<\/p>\n

All statistics were compiled using data from multiple sources, including Pro Football Reference<\/a>, ESPN<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Football Outsiders<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the 2018 NFL offseason, we will break down some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":2759653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":""},"categories":[3,56],"tags":[427,483,429],"yoast_head":"\n