Jimmy Garoppolo Listed as Starting QB over Trey Lance on 49ers' Week 1 Depth Chart

The San Francisco 49ers are listing Jimmy Garoppolo as the starting quarterback on their unofficial depth chart ahead of Week 1 of the NFL season.

While head coach Kyle Shanahan has not officially announced who his starter will be, ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio reported that the expectation is it will be Garoppolo ahead of rookie first-round pick Trey Lance.

Florio noted that the depth chart solidifies the notion that Jimmy G will start and take part in the midweek press conference rather than Lance.

When Garoppolo met with reporters on Wednesday, he discussed the situation, which he called "official."

"I told you guys a long time ago I had a pretty good feeling about it," Garoppolo said, per ESPN's Nick Wagoner. "I kind of joked about it but I always kind of knew where I stood and everything and now it's official, I guess."

The Niners will get their 2021 regular season started Sunday when they face the Detroit Lions on the road.

While it always felt like Garoppolo had a decent chance to start in Week 1, it was far from guaranteed given how much the 49ers had to part with in order to draft Lance.

The Niners moved up from No. 12 overall to No. 3 in a trade with the Miami Dolphins that saw the 12th pick in 2021, first- and third-round picks in 2022 and a first-round pick in 2023 go to Miami.

San Francisco's decision to go all in on Lance was likely made in large part due to the 29-year-old Garoppolo's inability to stay healthy.

Aside from 2019, Garoppolo has never appeared in more than six games in a single season. He missed 13 games in 2018 with a torn ACL and 10 games last season with two separate ankle injuries.

Garoppolo did start all 16 games in 2019, though, going 13-3 and completing 69.1 percent of his passes for 3,978 yards, 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Jimmy G led the Niners to the Super Bowl that season as well. Garoppolo played second fiddle to the running game throughout the playoff run, but it was nearly enough to win a championship, as the 49ers fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 31-20 after KC scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

Lance is still green as a passer and has plenty of developing to do, but there was some thought that the former North Dakota State standout could start right away due to his running ability.

He showed flashes of brilliance as a passer during the preseason as well with 276 yards and three touchdowns in three games, but he also threw an interception and completed only 46.3 percent of his attempts.

Additionally, Lance suffered a small fracture to a finger on his throwing hand that kept him out for a week following the final preseason game.

Assuming Garoppolo starts against Detroit, it can be argued that the 49ers are taking the safe route, although it could allow Shanahan to be extra creative.

Using Garoppolo to run the base offense and working in packages for Lance is something that could keep opposing defenses off balance, especially since the league doesn't know what Lance is fully capable of yet.

Lance is the 49ers' quarterback of the future, and while that future could be later this season or not until next season, it seems Garoppolo is poised to get the bulk of the work in Week 1 at the very least.