It's not just San Francisco 49ers fans keeping an eye on how the Jimmy Garoppolo situation plays out. Apparently, Seattle Seahawks fans are interested, too, although for very different reasons.
The Faithful want to see where Garoppolo is traded. More importantly, they want to see what the 49ers acquire for the polarizing starter of the past four-and-a-half seasons.
It sounds like Seahawks fans wouldn't mind seeing Garoppolo stay put, and when you think about it, that makes sense. Garoppolo owns a superb record as a starter (33-14). However, he is 1-4 starting against the Seahawks. In those starts, the quarterback has passed for 1,081 yards, four touchdowns, five interceptions, owns a passer rating of 82.4, and has been sacked 12 times by Seahawks defenders.
Last year, the 49ers traded significant draft capital to move into position to select Trey Lance with the No. 3 overall pick. Most expect the 21-year-old quarterback to be the team's starter in 2022. Lance is an unknown at this point. However, analysts see him as a more athletic quarterback who is more challenging to defend.
Everyone knows what Garoppolo is at this point—a quarterback who wins a lot of games but likely limits head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense.
Like one from Adam Schefter, recent reports cast doubts on Lance's progress. The ESPN analyst doesn't assume the 49ers trading Garoppolo is a lock, as most believe it to be. That has Seahawks fans hoping for more matchups against Garoppolo. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports recently called interest in Garoppolo "lukewarm."
"All this suggests Garoppolo could be staying at least one more year in San Francisco, which Seahawks fans everywhere would rejoice at," wrote Kole Musgrove of Seahawks Wire, who has a better pulse on the fanbase from the Pacific Northwest.
While this view could be seen as a knock on how a division rival perceives Garoppolo, it could also be seen as Seahawks fans being more worried about a 21-year-old Lance than the veteran quarterback.
Recently, respected analyst Greg Cosell stated that Lance at quarterback could give the 49ers more options than it had with Garoppolo at the helm.
"Garoppolo is not a great thrower on the run," Cosell explained to NBC Sports Bay Area. "Trey Lance will be better than that. Obviously, Trey Lance brings the secondary action scrambling ability to the table, which Garoppolo did not have."
Cosell added, "Offensively, you have to believe they'll be improved—or different. I shouldn't say improved because we don't know. Lance is still a prospect in many respects, so I think the offense will look different. Ideally, it will be better because Lance gives you more dimensions."