Emmanuel Sanders to the San Francisco 49ers: Fantasy context
By Raju Byfield
Emmanuel Sanders
Emmanuel Sanders is expected to immediately step in as the San Francisco 49ers number one receiver and number two target.
George Kittle had more than twice the number of receptions as any 49ers receiver, a sad fact the team was looking to address in the trade market. While Sanders may be at his most valuable in the slot from a fantasy perspective, he is an adept receiver outside of the numbers as well.
Sanders ascends to the weekly WR2 conversation with the move to San Francisco. He will bring some much needed balance to the 49ers offense and could threaten WR1 upside when he starts to develop a rapport with Jimmy Garoppolo. Sanders should settle in with a target share in the low 20 percent range.
Coach Kyle Shanahan admitted after Sanders’ first practice that both Jalen Hurd and Trent Taylor experienced setbacks in their recoveries. This helps further explain the 49ers desire to go out and get a reliable veteran receiver for the tougher part of their schedule.
George Kittle
This is good news for George Kittle who will have some attention diverted from him now that the 49ers have another legitimate threat down the field. Kittle should remain the 49ers top target on most, if not all outings, and should hold steady at his average of seven targets per contest.
His target share may see a slight drop from the 25 percent that it currently sits at, but that will be a function of the offense passing more as a whole, rather than due a decrease in actual volume. Currently the TE7 in fantasy points per game, Kittle should remain a top five option for the rest of the season.
Dante Pettis/Deebo Samuel
This move should be viewed as an indictment of Dante’s Pettis lack of improvement this season and Deebo Samuel’s questionable fit as the 49ers top receiver. Deebo continues to be hobbled by a groin injury, and Jalen Hurd has been recovering slower than the team would like from someone they expected to be a contributor this season.
The 49ers have been run dominant this season and appear unlikely to be able to support more than George Kittle and Emmanuel Sanders for fantasy purposes.
When healthy, Pettis and Samuel will eat into each others snaps and target volume. The 49ers will need to find themselves in negative gamescript situations to truly unleash what now appears to be a talented quartet of wide receivers.
Jimmy Garoppolo
Jimmy Garoppolo gets a nice boost to his fantasy value with the arrival of Emmanuel Sanders. Sanders gives Jimmy G something resembling a number one wideout. Garoppolo has been a low end QB2 for much of the season, but does have a top 10 finish under his belt this season.
The 49ers have benefitted from playing with a positive gamescript for much of the season, but that in turn has limited their quarterbacks effectiveness from a fantasy perspective. First in the league in pressured completion percentage, Jimmy G may have to shoulder a heavier burden in at least five of the 49ers last 10 games.
Tevin Coleman/Matt Breida
Both Tevin Coleman and Matt Breida figure to see an even smaller portion of Jimmy Garoppolo’s targets moving forward.
They project to see some game flow based spikes in targets, but have not been heavily involved in the passing game to date The 49ers have targeted the position 22 percent of the time, but have split those targets between four running backs and a full back. Coleman remains an RB2 with an RB3 floor. Matt Breida remains an RB3 with RB2 upside and an RB4 floor.