![\"SF_49ers-logo.svg\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.fantasylife-stage.com\/assets\/SF_49ers_logo_826b33532e.svg\"){kind=logo}
San Francisco 49ers Fantasy Preview<\/p>\nWhat could be sweeter than a weekday game to kick off a brand new football season? A second one being played with a big-time total the very next day several thousand miles away in the Land Down Under.\u00a0 G\u2019day mates \u2026<\/p>\n
As if there weren\u2019t enough moving pieces in this one, the stark difference in travel planning will surely dominate chunks of the TV broadcast. San Fran spent the week acclimating to Australia, munching on Vegemite sandwiches, while Sean McVay\u2019s Rams will try tricking their circadian rhythm by swooping in and out of the Southern Hemisphere before their body clocks know what hit them. Bold strategy, Cotton, let\u2019s see if it pays off.<\/p>\n
Regardless of the outcome, this will absolutely get more attention than I want to give, both as it happens and moving forward.<\/p>\n
Enough of that noise, there\u2019s a football game to be played! Already right on brand, Kyle Shanahan\u2019s keeping us on our toes in the dark regarding injuries \u2026 shocker. And Christian McCaffrey<\/a> missed practice again with no reports or injury designation. Is he hurt? Being protected in bubble wrap? What we wouldn\u2019t give for some good old-fashioned honesty \u2026<\/p>\n What I can tell you is to drop whatever you\u2019re doing to make sure third-round rookie Kaelon Black<\/a> isn\u2019t floating around on the waiver wire. I won\u2019t put any injury negativity into the universe before we even begin, but we know the potential fantasy value of Kyle Shanahan\u2019s lead back. Rightfully projected for very little standalone value, Black could be the piece you need.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not all doom and gloom on the medical front, however, as star TE George Kittle<\/a> practiced without restrictions and, by all intents and purposes, is tracking to play. Currently projected by FL as a backend TE1<\/a> (3.6 Rec, 40.3 RecYd), even our big brains in the backroom would admit Kittle\u2019s ceiling can be hard to get a true beat on as an all-or-none player at times.<\/p>\n Los Angeles schemes up defensive zones almost exclusively, where Kittle absolutely thrived last year (23.8% target, 2.45 yards\/route, 16.7% success). I\u2019d usually like to get a look at a returning player, but the stakes and opportunity cost are too high for SF to avoid using him if cleared medically.<\/p>\n Ditto for starting Mike Evans<\/a> (who I never truly believed was injured in the first place), though his projections run considerably lower given the circumstances. The Rams\u2019 creativity in deploying disguised blitz packages earned them the NFL\u2019s third-highest pressure rate (41.8%) in spite of the third-lowest blitz frequency (11.4%). That lack of time for play development often hurts X-type wideouts like Evans, who need more time for deeper routes to mature.<\/p>\n Everyone\u2019s impatiently anticipating the debut of De’Zhaun Stribling<\/a>, SF\u2019s 33rd overall pick. And while yes, the prospect of extrapolating this preseason\u2019s insane 59.1% target\/route is exciting, my expectations remained tempered, to say the least.\u00a0<\/p>\n Remember, literally none of the Niners\u2019 other skill position players were even on the field when this stuff happened. So while that type of utilization\u2019s surely deliberate and telling, I see it more as trial by fire to see if the rookie can handle fairly intense upcoming WR2\/3 duties. Could wind up looking silly in hindsight, but the recent draft steam for Stribling comes off to me as irrational exuberance.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t start him Week 1 if presented with any other viable opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n Start: Christian McCaffrey (RB2), Mike Evans (WR27), Brock Purdy (QB13), George Kittle (TE13)Sit: De’Zhaun Stribling (WR53) (ducks) Los Angeles led the NFL in scoring last season with one of the most consolidated opportunity trees in the league. In other words, if these crucial pieces stay healthy, it\u2019s fantasy gold for everyone involved. Nothing like a player blackjack \u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n Even in the backfield where Kyren Williams<\/a> clearly led the way over Blake Corum<\/a>, we have a rare situation where this backup\u2019s flexworthy. Whatever Williams doesn\u2019t handle quite literally goes to Corum. Would you believe the dynamic duo handled all but nine, or just over 98% of LAR\u2019s running back opportunities? Not only is it borderline unsustainable on its face, but we\u2019re also talking about both RBs boasting potentially the highest upside of any contingency play in fantasy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last thing \u2026 I\u2019d be remiss not to mention this Rams\u2019 tight end room before wrapping up. Already running +2-TE sets at or near the highest frequency in the NFL, somehow Colby Parkinson<\/a>, fantasy\u2019s TE6 after Week 10, went widely undrafted. Rectify this.<\/p>\n If your league services first-come-first-serve waivers, I\u2019m jumping on Parkinson before snap number one. San Fran\u2019s defense is a little undersized, posting a bottom-3 tackle success rate (47.1%), as well as bottom-10 finishes in tight end receptions and fantasy points per game to the position. Anytime the Rams take the field, they can explode on offense \u2026 unless the jet lag gets them.<\/p>\n Start: Puka Nacua (WR1), Kyren Williams (RB17), Davante Adams (WR21), Matthew Stafford (QB8), Colby Parkinson (TE29)Sit: Blake Corum (RB37), Terrance Ferguson (TE23) (ducks)Next Week\u2019s Bold Headlines TodayInjury predictors are down bad as Christian McCaffrey<\/a>\u2019s not only healthy, but picking up right where he left off as a +24 fantasy\/point game player.For all the helium surrounding Rams\u2019 TEs this offseason, it\u2019s immediately clear Colby Parkinson<\/a> was the player to target all along.FL projections nail LA\u2019s backfield usage, which winds up being bad news for Kyren. Despite a short TD saving his fantasy day, Blake Corum<\/a> nearly splitting work looks like a draft-day steal. Trusted by 400,000+ fantasy football players. Get access to Fantasy Life’s free award winning newsletter and tools, all in one step.<\/p>\n By registering or logging in, you agree to our Terms of Use<\/a> and Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two divisional rivals add over 7,500 miles to their usual travel as they head to Australia to kick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-460041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"LA_rams-logo.svg\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.fantasylife-stage.com\/assets\/LA_rams_logo_0d1ef46ed1.svg\"){kind=logo}
Los Angeles Rams Fantasy Preview<\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789093502_86_image.jpeg\"\/)
Join Our Newsletter<\/p>\n