Fantasy Football Preview NFC West: San Francisco 49ers
Fantasy Football Preview of the NFC West San Francisco 49ers
Welcome back to the next edition of Fantasy CPR Fantasy Football Preview as we take a look at the next NFC West Team, the San Francisco 49ers. Last week we discussed the Los Angeles Rams (still can’t help but start typing St. Louis before deleting and adding LA) and prior to that the Arizona Cardinals.
Man this team has really changed gears at the end of 2017 by making the big move for Jimmy Garoppolo and finding their potential quarterback of the present and future. If you did not follow last year and just look at the standings, it’s clear the 49ers were not good, right? How could a team that went 6-10 and finish last place in their division be considered a decent team?
You must overlook the first part of the season with Brian Hoyer and C.J. Beathard who led the team to a miserable 1-9 start. Then, December 3rd against his home town Chicago Bears, an Illinois native, Jimmy Garoppolo took over. He never looked back either, leading the team to a 5-0 record the rest of the way.
The teams they were beating were no slouches either. Game 15, they played and beat the Jacksonville Jaguars. In the final game of the season, they put a beating on the top team in the division the Rams.
Jimmy G brings that IT-factor the Niners were looking for and makes everyone on the offense look better. The NFC West is going to be a tough division, but the 49ers may be able to supplant some of their rivals to move up in the rankings and potentially playoff implications.
Fantasy Football Preview of the San Francisco 49ers: Quarterback
Jimmy Garoppolo
When you are drafted by the New England Patriots, you know for a fact your going to be riding the bench. However, current QB and future hall of famer, Tom Brady is getting up there in age. The Patriots spent a second round pick on the Northern Illinois product, and was sure to be the heir to Brady.
Much like Aaron Rodgers behind Brett Favre, Garoppolo has been learning behind arguably one of the best quarterbacks of all time in Tom Brady and one of the great coaches. The Pats decided to flip Jimmy G for capital though and was traded to the 49ers and was finally given the opportunity to start.
The keys were passed last season and it felt like an upgrade from a Prius to a Ferrari. Jimmy G helped the 49ers finish the season with a 5-0 record, while surpassing C.J. Beathard and Brian Hoyer in nearly every offensive category.
C.J. Beathard
The former Iowa product was given a short opportunity to play for the Niners. Once Garoppolo joined the team though, it was clear he would move back to the bench. The fact that Beathard experienced live game action is big though.
He should not be drafted in leagues, but has the ability to cover for Garoppolo if he ever needs to miss time. According to the Gazette General manager John Lynch “wants him to become the next Garoppolo,” which I’m not sure how to take. Does he want him to become known enough to be traded?
Fantasy Football Preview of the San Francisco 49ers: Running Back
Jerick McKinnon
Jerick McKinnon was stuck behind Adrian Peterson and has never been fully given the opportunity to start. It feels like he’s been in the league for a while, but he is still young at 26 years old. He is now on the San Francisco 49ers, joining a team that just lost Carlos Hyde.
McKinnon is now the lead back and he should be able to show everyone his full arsenal this year. He provides speed and strength out of the backfield, and the ability to catch passes and take it to the house.
The 49ers spent their number nine overall pick on offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey. The massive Notre Dame lineman is great news for both the passing and run game.
Breida could be an important handcuff to own. He is second in line to a guy that has never really experienced the workload of a primary ball carrier. In 2017, Breida worked in all 16 games with 465 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
He proved to be a reliable pass catcher as well with 21 receptions and a touchdown as a back up. We will see how long or short the leash is if McKinnon struggles early.
Joe Williams is an interesting piece to the puzzle. Similar to Breida, his best opportunity to see the field is if McKinnon either doesn’t produce, or gets injured. He had a big performance in his bowl game with Utah after his brief retirement but has stated that he is a “new person” and ready to show his commitment to the game.
Fantasy Football Preview of the San Francisco 49ers: Wide Receiver
Marquise Goodwin
Currently, Goodwin is sitting out mini-camp with a sore back, but this is nothing to worry about in your drafts. He was the best receiver on the team in 2017 with 56 receptions and 962 receiving yards and showed rapport with Garoppolo, Beathard, and Hoyer. The 49ers also extended his contract which should help ease the tension of job security.
He was targeted 105 times and had 13 plays of 20+ yards. Although this only lead to two total touchdowns, we must remember that much of the season was played with veteran backup Brian Hoyer and inexperienced C.J. Beathard. Garoppolo should give the team that boost in the passing game, and Goodwin could end up his favorite target.
The receiving stats would have been much closer, and potentially in Garcon’s favor had he played the whole season. He played half the season and ended with 40 receptions and 500 receiving yards.
When healthy, Garcon is one of the more reliable targets. Almost every season, with a few outliers. One was his rookie year where he only played four games. The second was 2012 where he only played 10 games, had Robert Griffin III as QB, and finished just four receptions behind leading receiver Josh Morgan with a minuscule 48 receptions. The last outlier was 2017 where he was on pace for another 1,000 yard season before a neck injury ended his season.
Dante Pettis
Dante Pettis out of Washington has the potential to make an immediate impact on this 49ers team. If you are perusing FanSided.com for info on the second round pick, look no further than here: Bobby Horne’s “Will Dante Pettis Make an Immediate Impact.”
The way Horne of NinerNoise describes him is perfect, that he looks like a great special teamer with home run ability with the offense. There is always injury concerns when drafting a wide receiver that is part of the return game as well, taking impactful hits in between series.
At Washington though, he proved to be more than a return specialist. He finished with 163 receptions and 24 touchdowns. He is definitely worth a look in dynasty leagues, and could help your 49ers D/ST in the return game.
The Louisiana Tech product sort of came out of no where last year. Taylor played in 15 out of 16 games and had 43 receptions for 430 receiving yards. In deep leagues, Taylor could be a pesky little option standing at just 5’8″ and 180 LBS. He caught an impressive 71.7% of passes thrown his way and showed no fear going across the middle or near the sideline.
Richie James
Built similarly to Trent Taylor, Richie James is only 5’9″ and might have benefitted from one more year at Middle Tennessee State. 2017 was not as explosive as his sophomore year where he finished with 105 receptions, 1625 receiving yards, 12 touchdowns, and was a big part of the run game with 38 carries and four touchdowns.
He proved to be an extremely versatile piece while in college and hopes to carry that spark to the 49ers. As a seventh round pick, it remains to be seen how they will use James, and how often they use him. But he could be another stash-type guy in dynasty leagues.
Fantasy Football Preview of the San Francisco 49ers: Tight End
George Kittle
Kittle had a great rookie season and could break out even more as one of the better TE options this year. He is a big target at 6’4″ and showed the versatility to be involved as a blocker and a pass catcher. He had 43 receptions, 515 yards, and two touchdowns as a rookie.
Kittle was very involved with the offense running routes on 73% of their plays. A stat borrowed from Kyle Borgognoni of The Fantasy Footballers, said that “Kittle was TE10 in the NFL once Garoppolo took over as quarterback.” Now give him a full season of work with Garoppolo, and we’ll see what kind of production Kittle will have. I see plenty of opportunities for Kittle to be a top 10 fantasy TE this season.
The explosion of Kittle definitely hurts Celek’s chances opportunities to produce in 2018. He saw some time at fullback last year, and was only targeted 13 times. His only real chance to produce for a fantasy team is if Kittle goes down with injury, and even then, he does not offer much.
Fantasy Football Preview of the San Francisco 49ers: Kicker and D/ST
Gould had a tremendous career with the Chicago Bears. He went seven consecutive seasons from 2006-2012 without missing an extra point. But the Bears decided his career had run its course preceding the team cutting ties.
He spent a short season with the Giants, appearing in 10 games. Not only did he regain form, but earned back nickname “Good as Gould.” Last season, he went 17 for 18 from 40-49 yards and was a perfect 4 for 4 from 50+. The San Francisco offense is much improved with Garoppolo taking over, and they should spend plenty of time in the offensive zone.
D/ST
The brains behind the Legion of Boom has switched teams, Stanford University grad, Mr. Richard Sherman. The 49ers did not address the defense early on in the 2018 draft, waiting until the third round to pick up defensive back Tarvarius Moore. This is a nice addition in a backfield that already has Sherman and Jaquiski Tartt.
They have an extremely young and talented defensive line with Solomon Thomas, DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead. The X-factor could be linebacker Reuben Foster, if he can manage to stay on the field. The former Alabama linebacker is certainly gifted, and needs to manage his off-field issues to help this team succeed.
Next: Is Tom Brady still worth drafting in fantasy leagues?
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