San Francisco 49ers Fantasy Preview

2018 Stats (Rank)

Total Offense: 5,769 Yards (16th)
Offensive Touchdowns: 33 (23rd)
Offensive Plays Per Game: 62.7 (21st)
Pass Attempts + Sacks: 580 (20th)
Rush Attempts: 423 (11th)
Run/Pass Split: Run – 42% | Pass – 58%
Unaccounted for Targets: 64
Unaccounted for Carries: 111

Projected Win Total

The 49ers’ over/under currently sits at 8.0, after they went 4-12 last season. The expected improvement is in large part to getting players, like Jimmy Garoppolo, back healthy. The 49ers also made it a point to bring in more weapons on the offensive end to improve the overall supporting cast of Jimmy G.

Strength of Schedule

SOS is measured by calculating the fantasy points allowed by each team’s opponents to determine who has the easiest and most difficult fantasy schedules (rank #1 has the easiest schedule).

QB: 9th
RB: 3rd
WR: 3rd
TE: 19th

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Passing Game

QB: Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Mullens
WR: Dante Pettis, Kendrick Bourne
WR: Marquise Goodwin, Jordan Matthews
WR: Deebo Samuel, Jalen Hurd
TE: George Kittle, Garrett Celek

A knee injury ended Jimmy Garoppolo‘s first season as the starter prematurely, and it seems as though fantasy owners have forgotten he exists. Last preseason, Jimmy G was one of the most hyped up players in fantasy, being drafted as the tenth quarterback off the board on average. This season, he has fallen all the way down to QB21, despite the supporting cast around him improving. Whether you believe in his talent or not is irrelevant, because all Kyle Shanahan does is produce fantasy-relevant quarterbacks.

Catching passes from Jimmy G is this season’s most hyped up tight end, George Kittle. He is currently being drafted as the third tight end off the board, after he finished there last season, averaging 16 fantasy points per game in PPR. Second-year receiver Dante Pettis is also receiving a lot of attention, with reports that he looks much-improved heading into this year. His ADP has risen all the way up to WR35, after catching only 27 passes last year. After those two, Marquise Goodwin (WR65) is still a speedster that will have big weeks and Deebo Samuel (WR69) is the second-round rookie that the Niners have high expectations for. Both will be relevant in the right situations, but consistency will likely be an issue.

QB Fantasy Rankings
WR Fantasy Rankings
TE Fantasy Rankings

Running Game

RB: Tevin Coleman, Matt Breida, Jerick McKinnon
2018 OL Run Rank: 26th

This has been one of the most difficult backfields to predict thus far. Tevin Coleman played under Kyle Shanahan in Atlanta, and the coach liked him enough to recruit him to the 49ers. He is expected to be the lead back and has the highest floor of the three, which is reflected in his current ADP of RB31. Jerick McKinnon was the big acquisition last offseason, but a knee injury cause him to miss his first season in San Francisco. One would think he would be the second running back, due to his complementary skill set of Coleman’s and the fact that he was paid to come last year. However, a setback has raised concerns about McKinnon, He is currently going as RB42, though it’s Matt Breida that seems ready to play as the second back in this offense. He finished as RB26 in 14 games for the Niners last season, but is going as RB53 right now. Expect him and McKinnon to switch places in ADP.

RB Fantasy Rankings