Emmanuel Sanders to the San Francisco 49ers: Fantasy context

Courtland Sutton

Courtland Sutton projects to see a boost in target volume, but will now be forced to deal with opposing number one corners. Sutton has quietly been a WR1 on the season and is seventh in the league with 564 receiving yards.

Despite the increase in targets, Sutton is likely to see his catch rate drop which should cancel out the volume versus the level he is currently producing at.

Sutton will have an adjustment period now that he will almost exclusively be lining up against number one corners on a nightly basis. He will also now have to learn to successfully contend with the double teams his new role and production profile suggest he will now face.

DaeSean Hamilton

DaeSean Hamiton was the WR17 during last season’s fantasy playoffs and saw a 23 percent target share. One of the best route runners in the 2018 NFL Draft, Hamilton projects to see a major spike in targets with Sanders out of town.

Congratulations if you held on to him throughout his struggles this year in non dynasty leagues. Hamilton is somehow still available in 93 percent of Yahoo leagues and should be added in all competitive leagues.

Noah Fant

Noah Fant has continued to disappoint despite playing with noted tight end whisperer Joe Flacco. The tight end group as a whole has seen just 17.6 percent of Joe Flacco’s targets this season.

With Sanders out of town this number could rise to the 20 percent range. Flacco has seen just a 11.3 percent target share on the season. Fant remains a TE2 with top end TE1 upside, but has shown off his waiver wire floor.

Joe Flacco

Joe Flacco is the QB22 on the season and loses one of his top two wideouts. Flacco is best viewed as a QB3 who has some bye week appeal in superflex leagues. An every week fade in DFS and season long leagues, Flacco sees his floor lowered with this news. Avoid Joe Flacco if at all possible.

Royce Freeman/Phillip Lindsay

Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay have combined for a 27 percent target share (sixth highest in the league). They rank 11th and 14th in the league in running back targets respectively.

With Emmanuel Sanders now plying his wares in San Francisco, and no one outside of the injured Tim Patrick resembling a number three wide-out, Freeman and Lindsay could see an increase in both volume and combined target share.

Freeman and Lindsay remain RB2 level assets with RB3 floors. Of course, if one of the two backs were to be injured, the other would become an every week RB1 candidate.