Fantasy Football Team Previews
#17 – San Francisco 49ers
The Italian Baby GOAT finally gets his chance to shine as the starting QB for a full season in San Francisco. A big offseason addition of a promising RB figures to ignite the offense under one of the bright young coaching minds in all of the NFL.
QBs: Jimmy Garoppolo (QB13)
While Jimmy G isn’t getting milked by D-list adult entertainers, he’s quickly rising up draft boards now that he has the starting job in San Francisco. He’s a promising young star destined to rise after starting his 49er career with a perfect 5-0 record. If he wants to rise in fantasy stardom though, his passing numbers need to be bumped up. Only two of his five starts came with over 300 yards passing, and he threw five interceptions in those games. A full offseason with Kyle Shanahan should do the trick, as well some more time building chemistry with his receivers. Unfortunately, Garoppolo might be one of those guys who are much better in real football, than he is fantasy football. He can be your QB1, but make sure you have a solid backup on your bench.
RBs: Jerick McKinnon (RB15), Matt Breida (RB50), Alfred Morris (RB56)
The Wolf’s was bullishly high on Jerick McKinnon this offseason after signing with the 49ers to be the lead back in Kyle Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme. He had him close to a end of the first/early second round pick before starting to cool off on all the hype. A knee injury in preseason action didn’t help his cause, as is the circling doubt about whether McKinnon is able to actually be a three down back after never doing so in his career. He should still catch a zillion passes out of the backfield and be used a lot for the team, as he makes for an ideal round three RB to snag.
If you end up with McKinnon, make sure you snag backup Matt Breida as a handcuff. Breida was actually serviceable when Carlos Hyde was either hurt or splitting duties in the offense. Friend of the program Grant Cohn has been on record saying Breida is the best RB on the team. He’s for sure a penny-stock, and someone you need to own as a McKinnon owner.
And just when you thought this backfield was all set, the team goes out and signs veteran Alfred Morris to the roster. The scary thing about this was that Morris actually looked really good in McKinnon’s absence. It also raises the volume to the “can McKinnon handle a full workload” discussion as Morris could very well eat into his production this year. Morris has a history playing under Shanahan before so this is something to definitely monitor and could send McKinnon’s stock lower than before.
WRs: Marquise Goodwin (WR24), Pierre Garcon (WR46), Trent Taylor (NR)
When Garoppolo took over as the team’s starting QB, Marquise Goodwin’s stock shot up as he was clearly a favorite target. The speedster burned defenders and drew 8,12,and 13 targets in his first three games with Jimmy G. He should be the go-to guy again in an offense looking to open it up more in 2018. Pierre Garcon returns from injury and will also help Jimmy G develop further. The veteran has been a target hog for his career in both Indianapolis and Washington. The duo of Garcon and Goodwin should be a fantastic duo for the 49ers. Don’t sleep on Trent Taylor though. The penny stock could play that Wes Welker-esque slot role working his way into more targets.
TEs: George Kittle (TE13)
We had a lot of hype for George Kittle when the team had fellow Iowa native CJ Beathard in at QB thanks to the prior college connection. That didn’t pan out, and neither did his time with Garoppolo to close out the season. He could improve for year two, but we do need to see more before labeling Kittle as a solid fantasy TE.
O-Line:
The 49ers find themselves right in the middle ranked #16 by ProFootballFocus. Joe Staley anchors the line at left tackle while the addition of Laken Tomlinson proved to be valuable in 2017. In the offseason, the 49ers added Weston Richburg from the Giants, and drafted Notre Dame stud Mike McGlinchey in the first round. This line is essential in Kyle Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme, and is a big reason why The Wolf is so high on Jerick McKinnon this offseason.
