The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key San Francisco 49ers players heading into their matchup with the Arizona Cardinals to help you craft a winning lineup.
Mac Jones, QB
Mac Jones is pulling the Kyle Shanahan levers at a high level, and that gives him a real chance to be the top streaming option on the board this week.
Since Week 7, the Cardinals have allowed the eighth most yards per pass. They are a matchup I’m happy to target, and if Jacoby Brissett is pushing tempo on the other side, even better!
Jones has multiple TD tosses in three straight and is 52-of-63 throwing the ball over the past two weeks. That looks more like a free-throw percentage than a completion percentage, but that’s what happens when you weigh down your most talented friends with looks (Week 10: 71.8% of targets were directed to George Kittle, Jauan Jennings, or Christian McCaffrey).
He’s clearly comfortable with this plan and potentially playing for his next contract. The Jones profile isn’t perfect, but if you’re pressed into a corner or want to get creative in DFS, I think there’s juice to squeeze here.
Christian McCaffrey, RB
McCaffrey is a workhorse running back who is averaging a target for every two rush attempts this season.
He has 69 catches and 180 carries this season; no other running back with 145+ carries has more than 32 targets.
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We are dealing with a truly unique player with the highest floor we’ve seen in quite some time. McCaffrey is averaging 3.5 yards per carry and hasn’t had a run gain more than 16 yards; it doesn’t matter.
The Brian Robinson drive last week (the first of the second half) was a pain, but your complaining is going to fall on deaf ears. You got a discount on the most fantasy-friendly role of a generation: it’s on you to build a winner around him.
The 49ers get the Titans, Colts, and Bears during the fantasy postseason. CMC is going to do his job; you can count on that.
Jauan Jennings, WR
Jennings’ ribs seem to be healing just fine as he has increased his PPR production in four straight weeks and has scored over two points per target in consecutive games, his first two instances of the season.
We will see where his role net out when this offense is healthy, but that’s very much a future conversation with this team struggling to get its WR room near full strength.
I could point to Jaxon Smith-Njigba clearing 20 points in this matchup a week ago, but he’s the best player in the game right now, so that doesn’t seem fair.
How does a 23.8 spot from Hunter Renfrow back in Week 2 sound?
Rick Pearsall got them for 19.7 the following week, and Calvin Ridley scored 18.1 in Week 5.
This isn’t a defense to fear, and if the Jacoby Brissett heater continues, this game has the potential to turn into a fun one.
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I view Jennings as a stable WR2 with value similar to AJ Brown (vs DET) this week.
George Kittle, TE
The touchdown last week meant nothing for the 49ers, but it was great for fantasy managers.
Not only did we accrue bonus points, but we saw the rare athlete that blends physicality with finesse as good as anyone at the position.
We saw the player we drafted Kittle to be back in August.
His snap share has been over 80% in all four games since returning from injury, and he’s caught 17-of-18 targets over the past three. I’m not ready to add him to the top tier at the position because the offense isn’t built around him, a benefit that the top of the board has, but he’s as good as anyone else in the sport, and I think you can bank on it with confidence for the rest of the season.
The WR room in San Francisco might get difficult to judge with time, but they are getting the scraps of what Kittle (and Christian McCaffrey) leave behind, not the other way around.