San Francisco, one of only two remaining undefeated teams in the league, heads south to face Atlanta, among the best two-win teams in the business.
Falcons vs. 49ers Matchup Breakdown For Week 7 Fantasy Football
San Francisco 49ers Fantasy Preview for Week 7
Hat tip to San Fran, who seems to shed a critical player every week, yet continues to avoid the loss column. Records aside, the Niners grade out as well as anyone in team-level differentials, leading the NFL in EPA/dropback (0.32), yards/pass attempt (2.21), passer rating (29.7), and points/drive (1.06). Helps having fantasy’s QB2 Brock Purdy under center, who’s ranked top-5 in every passing stat that matters, with an extra 26.0 rushing yards/game as the fantasy cherry on top.
Even though he’s ceding 7.5 carries/game to rookie Kaelon Black, veteran Christian McCaffrey’s one of only four RBs averaging +20 fantasy points/game, and that’s in spite of a 65% backfield opportunity share (17th highest). Also running at his highest level of efficiency in years (0.09 EPA/attempt, 53.0% success, 9.1% explosive rush rate), CMC’s earning +21% of a team’s targets with all the green zone looks he can handle. Speaking of Black, he’s the only other Niner RB to touch the ball in a month, and a perfect example of the type of player I’ll add at the last minute on Sunday to hold over the weekend in case of emergency. If McCaffrey misses time, he’s an automatic back-end RB1.
Once again, my short-term speculation skills failed me, though I’m down but not out. After opening Christian Kirk’s practice window several days before Monday’s tilt with the Rams, he of course did not play (trombone sound). All that was before WR1 Mike Evans re-aggravated his Achilles injury, opening even more runway for someone else to step up.
After Evans’ departure, there’s some good news and some bad news. The good? SF didn’t shuffle pass catchers in and out. And the bad? Jordan Watkins and Brandin Cooks combined to run 21 out of a possible 24 routes, but earned just one uncaught target. Oof. Kyle Shanahan funneled the entire passing offense through George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey, who lined up in the slot a few times and was even spotted out wide! Long story long, that’s the evidence I need to double down on the Kirk pick.
Start: Brock Purdy (QB3), Christian McCaffrey (RB2), George Kittle (TE2)Sit: Brandin Cooks (WR64)Sleeper: Christian Kirk (WR57)
Atlanta Falcons Fantasy Preview For Week 7
Subscribe to FantasyLife+ Tier 2 to keep reading. Use code CONTENT for 10% off.
Already a FantasyLife+ subscriber? Log in here.