RADIO
The "2017 San Francisco 49ers" and "Fantasy Football potential" are not sentences that tend to go together, and that's coming from a long-time fan and one-time plane rider with Steve Young (Steve Young flies Southwest?! Celebrities, they're just like us) who understands the simple truth; the rebuilding process for this team runs through building up the core and patience.
No matter how talented the 49ers may be on defense and in patches along the offense, this isn't a team that is positioned to win many games, let along score you many points. When it comes to deeper leagues, dynasty leagues, or just searching for value on the cheap in leagues where you might need it, the 49ers may surprise you.
The San Francisco 49ers drafted talent in places that are worth paying attention, most notably when it comes to backfield depth, backup quarterback, and tight end, in search of long term answers. When it came to short term success, the team went back to the well for wide receivers that are undervalued by other teams (Goodwin) and one that was actually involved in a low key bidding war between two former coaches (Garcon.) It doesn't mean you'll find as much success in your league as the 49ers might try to cobble together in the end zone, but again, the key with this team is hidden value.
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Offseason Moves
Offseason Acquisitions: WR Pierre Garcon, WR Aldrick Robinson, WR Marquise Williams, RB Tim Hightower, QB Brian Hoyer, QB Matt Barkley, , DL Elvis Dumervil, QB C.J. Beathard, RB Joe Williams, RB Matt Breida, TE George Kittle, WR Trent Taylor
Offseason Departures: QB Colin Kaepernick, WR Bruce Ellington, WR Torrey Smith, CB Tramaine Brock
Player to Avoid: The entire backfield
Quarterback
Brian Hoyer has found a new team, and this time he's landed on the sunny shores of just outside of the actual city of San Francisco. and only a target for you if you're in a two QB league and don't enjoy locking up that position. Hoyer only started for six games last year (good for the 31st ranked QB in terms of scoring, which is sort of horrifying...) and he actually held his own; he turned the ball over all of one time on a fumble, and with defenses more interested in game-planning for Carlos Hyde, it's worth wondering if Hoyer is going to be Alex Smith-lite in Santa Clara and if that can play out in deeper leagues. Hoyer is a fascinating late round flyer or bye-week fill in against certain defenses, and he's worth monitoring as the season kicks off.
The fan base is also fascinated with the potential of CJ Beathard, the third-round pick out of Iowa, but this is only a flyer in deep dynasty leagues.
Running Backs
Carlos Hyde had the most fascinating offseason of maybe any 49er, as the narrative surrounding the player changed wildly week by week. Was Hyde going to be cut? Was he going to be the star? Is he worth being used as team trade bait, or is he going to continue to carry the offensive burden? The answers, in order, were no, maybe, maybe, and probably. Hyde has shown up in great offseason shape, has impressed at camp, but the uncertainty surrounding his role and the team's commitment to him makes you nervous to draft him. Despite coaching and team changes almost yearly, Hyde has generally held onto the starter role and performed well, because he's so willing to do whatever the offensive needs him to do. Stand behind Frank Gore as needed in 2014 and do what the team asked in eventually expanded running role? Yup. The Chip Kelly offense? Hyde said he'd love to catch more passes to fit the system. It'll be hard to take work from the guy, but he's certainly got the potential, and there's not much else going on in this backfield.
Joe Williams and Matt Breida make up the bulk of the "not much else going on", as their names keep popping up as flyers who could make potentially big moves. ESPN's Adam Schefter has stated in a few different ESPN-platform conversations that he believes Breida is the late-round guy to go after. I admittedly have less inside connections than Adam Schefter, so I relied on someone who knows the team inside and out, Senior Reporter Joe Fann. I asked Joe what the potential is for guys like Breida and Williams. Joe stated that Breida will almost certainly make the team, but he wouldn't draft him outside of the deepest of leagues, stating that he has a chance but certainly isn't being favored one way or another over the other running backs in the conversation. When it came to Williams, Joe doubled down; maybe it's just best to stay away from all of these guys if you are looking for fantasy football success, though in a dynasty I'd rather have Williams stashed away over Breida.
That of course doesn't even include players like RB Tim Hightower or Kyle Juszczyk, who have been important pieces of other offenses, but will not play much of a role in fantasy.
Wide Receivers
This may be the most interesting aspect of the San Francisco 49ers offense this year in terms of fantasy play. I asked Joe Fann about which offensive weapon was more likely to have some impact, and Joe answered simply, "Pierre Garcon is the guy with the higher floor, and Marquise Goodwin is the guy with the higher ceiling." The former Washington receiver has the "wrong side of 30" distinction that we are all so familiar with, but he is going to be the pass catcher to see the most consistent work in the Kyle Shanahan offense, especially given the two worked closely together to get Garcon the ball in Washington. Meanwhile, Goodwin has been impressing the most at camp, and while he's technically WR2, he should still see a decent number of targets and have the most potential to expand the role. For Garcon, this makes him good for a WR4 in 10 and 12 team leagues, but Goodwin, going a bit later, may be the better pick here in the ever-expanding search for deep draft lottery tickets.
Jeremy Kerley is on this team as the third wide receiver, but expect him to get less targets than he did for the team in 2016, in a very different offense, and only 2017 draft pick Trent Taylor is worth monitoring elsewhere down the roster to see if he can capture any of his college magic in the NFL. And, if you want to be sad, just look at recently cut WR Bruce Ellington and wonder if it's the wide receivers who are the problem, or the new system?
Tight End
George Kittle has a lot of hype, and yet there's not a lot of evidence that he WON'T take this job over and be a consistent offensive success for the team. Kittle has been strong as a blocker and pass catcher for the team in early work, gotten a ton of reps, and may be the answer to the 49ers less-than-impressive starters currently in the role. Kittle is already showing signs of that Iowa offensive promise, and there are whispers around 49ers fans who are wondering if Beathard and Kittle may be able to re-create that magic. Kittle probably is only a fit for deeper leagues, or as a very late round flyer for dynasty leagues, who could play a bigger role as he gets more comfortable in the offensive.
Kicker
Out with the old in Phil Dawson, and in with the slightly less old Robbie Gould. Gould was totally serviceable in Chicago, and the veteran walked over to a cushy job with the 49ers where he's expected to just maintain that lifetime 86% field goal completion percentage. Dawson may crack the bottom of the top ten pitchers if the 49ers decide to kick it enough times to get some cheap wins, so while I wouldn't draft him over kickers in more voluminous offenses, I would monitor to see how much his team is going to him in his first two low scoring games. If they are going to Gould a few times there, it may be worth adding him.
Defense
Neither the front seven or the secondaries crack the top twenty in PFF's rankings heading into 2017, so while this defense may fit the bill of good up-and-coming defense stocked with draft picks, they won't see any of that success in 2017.
