We're closing out the NFC West with a team in flux on both sides of the ball:
1. Who will win the QB battle (and will it matter)?
2. Will Carlos Hyde stay healthy?
3. Should any RB backups be on fantasy radars?
4. Will Torrey Smith be the clear-cut #1 target in the passing game?
5. Are any other receivers draftable?
Longtime FF4W readers know that I’ve always viewed Colin Kaepernick as vastly overrated. So it’s with a combination of curiosity and quiet laughter that I observe two bottom-rung QBs—guys who’d be no better than semi-competent backups on most NFL teams—battle it out for the right to lead what will be one of 2016’s worst NFL teams. If not for his obscene contract, as the GM I’d pick Kaep to lead this team for another year without hesitation. You know what you’re going to get with him: 20-25 TDs, 10-15 turnovers, and 3,500-4,000 total yards.
But word in Niner-ville is that Blaine Gabbert is favored to win the job. With a 2016 salary around 7x less than Kaep’s, and after posting marginally better numbers after he took over the starting job midseason last year, Gabbert should earn at least another half season to build on last year’s “success.” For fantasy purposes, neither is worth drafting even in two-QB leagues, and I don’t anticipate needing to discuss either player again this year.
In his first game last season after a year spent backing up Frank Gore, Carlos Hyde went off for 182 total yards and two scores against a talented Vikings D. It was all downhill from there, culminating in a stress fracture in his foot that cost him a majority of the season. Entering this preseason, I’ve had more trouble assessing Hyde’s likely output than nearly any other RB. The talent is there; so if the workhorse potential. However, he’s clearly injury prone, and the Niners might not utilize him as much in second halves (since they’ll be playing from behind more often than not).
For most bell-cow RBs, their saving grace is not having a capable backup. In San Fran, it’s Shaun Draughn and his career 3.5 YPC. And so Hyde is my 9th-ranked RB. If durability issues once again catch up with him, I’ll be flat wrong. If he remains healthy, he should post RB1/2 numbers every week.
What to make of Torrey Smith? No longer playing second fiddle to veterans like Anquan Boldin (free agent) and Steve Smith (Ravens), Torrey enters 2016 as his team’s likely leader in targets, catches, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. His WR-51 ADP unrealistically suggests zero improvement over last year’s numbers. He’s the #44 WR on my draft board and heading upward—though I’d caution not to get too carried away. Top 30-35 is as high as I’d go in this offense, and only if Hyde gets seriously hurt this preseason.
The remaining WRs are desperation plays. Quinton Patton has 36 career receptions. Bruce Ellington, 19. DeAndrew White, 2. DeAndre Smelter and Eric Rogers, 0. Even the tight end situation is muddled and, because of the offensive’s limitations, avoidable. Vance McDonald is the frontrunner over Blake Bell and Garrett Celek, but that’s like saying he’s the frontrunner for a mayoral election in a town of 25 people.
Five Biggest Questions
1. Who will win the QB battle (and will it matter)?
2. Will Carlos Hyde stay healthy?
3. Should any RB backups be on fantasy radars?
4. Will Torrey Smith be the clear-cut #1 target in the passing game?
5. Are any other receivers draftable?
Longtime FF4W readers know that I’ve always viewed Colin Kaepernick as vastly overrated. So it’s with a combination of curiosity and quiet laughter that I observe two bottom-rung QBs—guys who’d be no better than semi-competent backups on most NFL teams—battle it out for the right to lead what will be one of 2016’s worst NFL teams. If not for his obscene contract, as the GM I’d pick Kaep to lead this team for another year without hesitation. You know what you’re going to get with him: 20-25 TDs, 10-15 turnovers, and 3,500-4,000 total yards.
But word in Niner-ville is that Blaine Gabbert is favored to win the job. With a 2016 salary around 7x less than Kaep’s, and after posting marginally better numbers after he took over the starting job midseason last year, Gabbert should earn at least another half season to build on last year’s “success.” For fantasy purposes, neither is worth drafting even in two-QB leagues, and I don’t anticipate needing to discuss either player again this year.
In his first game last season after a year spent backing up Frank Gore, Carlos Hyde went off for 182 total yards and two scores against a talented Vikings D. It was all downhill from there, culminating in a stress fracture in his foot that cost him a majority of the season. Entering this preseason, I’ve had more trouble assessing Hyde’s likely output than nearly any other RB. The talent is there; so if the workhorse potential. However, he’s clearly injury prone, and the Niners might not utilize him as much in second halves (since they’ll be playing from behind more often than not).
For most bell-cow RBs, their saving grace is not having a capable backup. In San Fran, it’s Shaun Draughn and his career 3.5 YPC. And so Hyde is my 9th-ranked RB. If durability issues once again catch up with him, I’ll be flat wrong. If he remains healthy, he should post RB1/2 numbers every week.
What to make of Torrey Smith? No longer playing second fiddle to veterans like Anquan Boldin (free agent) and Steve Smith (Ravens), Torrey enters 2016 as his team’s likely leader in targets, catches, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. His WR-51 ADP unrealistically suggests zero improvement over last year’s numbers. He’s the #44 WR on my draft board and heading upward—though I’d caution not to get too carried away. Top 30-35 is as high as I’d go in this offense, and only if Hyde gets seriously hurt this preseason.
The remaining WRs are desperation plays. Quinton Patton has 36 career receptions. Bruce Ellington, 19. DeAndrew White, 2. DeAndre Smelter and Eric Rogers, 0. Even the tight end situation is muddled and, because of the offensive’s limitations, avoidable. Vance McDonald is the frontrunner over Blake Bell and Garrett Celek, but that’s like saying he’s the frontrunner for a mayoral election in a town of 25 people.