Should I Start Jeff Wilson Jr. This Week? 49ers RB Outlook vs. Bengals

December 11, 2021

Is Jeff Wilson Jr. starting versus the Bengals in Week 14? Should I start Jeff Wilson on my fantasy football team? Read the latest news and outlook.

The fantasy football playoffs are one week away, so this is a make-or-break week for many fantasy managers out there. With a ton of injuries to deal with, it's critical to stay tuned in and make the right start/sit decisions for your fantasy teams.

Let's check in on the injuries for the San Francisco 49ers running backs and their Week 14 Sunday afternoon game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Is Jeff Wilson Jr. starting in Week 14? Should I start Jeff Wilson Jr. on my fantasy football teams? Below we take a quick look at his Week 14 outlook.

Is Elijah Mitchell Playing In Week 14 Against the Bengals?

Elijah Mitchell has been dealing with both a knee injury and a concussion all week, and he will not be active versus the Bengals in Week 14:

While this is obviously not great news, at least we got it on Friday so that we can make contingency plans before Sunday's games. However, the 49ers have a particularly muddled backfield situation with Jeff Wilson Jr., JaMycal Hasty, Trey Sermon, and Deebo Samuel also getting carries. So who, if any of those backs, should we be playing? Those are the big questions we need to answer.

Should I Start Jeff Wilson Jr. Against the Bengals in Week 14?

Without Elijah Mitchell playing, the next man up and the most often discussed name is Jeff Wilson Jr. -- and rightfully so. When Mitchell was forced to sit out against Jacksonville in Week 11, Wilson saw 19 carries and two targets in the passing game. Now, he only ran for 50 yards and many fantasy managers will likely be washing their hands of Wilson, but I would urge you not to. The usage is too good to ignore, especially with all the running back injuries we're currently navigating.

Wilson saw 20 touches in that game against the Jaguars, and that was with Trey Sermon also getting 10 carries and one reception. Well, what about Deebo Samuel? If he's back, won't he steal carries? Good question. In that Jacksonville game, Deebo had 8 carries, his most of the season. Considering Deebo is now rushing back from a groin injury that was supposed to keep him out three weeks, it would be safe to assume that the 49ers won't want to tax him too much, so I wouldn't bet on him matching his usage from that Jacksonville game.

So even with Wilson splitting a considerable amount of work, he still had 20 touches. That can be tremendously valuable if you're hurting at the RB position this week. Now, I know he wasn't successful with his workload in that Jacksonville game, but remember that stats don't always tell the full story.

A good pass there changes the whole complexity of the start for Wilson. Also, as we've been saying all year, volume is king at the running back position, and Wilson will likely see all of red-zone work for San Francisco. So you're getting the most touches and highest-value touches on an offense that has continuously run the ball well. I think all of that should make Wilson a low-end RB3/FLEX option with Hasty keeping some appeal in deep leagues due to his likely passing-down role.

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