Fantasy Football Local Insider Info Thread

[Vince, Pt. II]

They mentioned today (local talk radio) he's going to miss at least 7 regular season games.

[Neuqua]

So is Fred Jackson even worth taking a late round flyer on? Everything I'm reading is that he's looked awful.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Probably only as a handcuff to Spiller, but I have no insider info or anything.

49ers WR situation is starting to clear up a little, here's what we've got now:

Coach Harbaugh all but confirmed that Mario Manningham will start the year on the PUP list, and it's sounding like Crabtree will as well. There's a persistent rumor that Crabtree is likely to be given the IR with plans to return designation, so if you have a deep bench he's definitely worth stashing as he could be huge in December.

Although nothing is guaranteed, the 49ers are likely to enter the season with 6 WR's on the roster, and four of those slots are (for the most part) locked up:

Anquan Boldin
Kyle Williams
Jon Baldwin (based on salary and the fact that they gave up Jenkins for him)
Quinton Patton

Which leaves two slots for the following guys:
Ricardo Lockette
Marlon Moore
Austin Collie
Lavelle Hawkins
Kasim Osgood
Chad Hall
Chuck Jacobs

Lockette and Moore have been getting the most reps, but Osgood has been seeing a lot of special teams work, so he may be on the inside track. Several of the 49ers high profile defensive backfield players do not play special teams, so the team is looking to get special teams contributors wherever they can.

Whoever ends up winning the #2 job opposite Boldin will be worth a look as a WR4 on your fantasy team. In really deep keeper/dynasty leagues, Patton might be worth a flier. Otherwise I'd just avoid SF receivers.

[Butter]

Bengals' WR Mohamed Sanu had a great game vs. the Titans this weekend. For a deep draft, he might be worth a WR bench pick.... but seeing as Green, Gresham, and Eifert will probably all get a lot of targets this year, he might just be worth keeping an eye on for a few weeks and pick up later as an injury replacement.

[StLee]

2nd QB = Flacco, Weeden, or Alex Smith?

Other possible QBs at that spot = Bradford, Philip Rivers (OL is atrocious, so doubt he will be standing all season), Tannehill, and EJ Manuel

[Vince, Pt. II]

Of those three? I'd take Weeden on upside. Flacco is probably the best pick, but Weeden has looked amazing this pre-season, the team's got a great O-Line and Richardson is a beast.

To update the 49er WR battle (because I know everyone's been eagerly awaiting this information)...

Locks to make the roster:
Anquan Boldin
Kyle Williams
Quinton Patton

Strong contenders:
Marlon Moore
Jon Baldwin
Austin Collie

In the mix:
Kassim Osgood
Chad Hall

Longshots:
Lavelle Hawkins

Hawkins had a kickoff return TD tonight...but he also had THREE unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Patton looked very good, and Marlon Moore has had nearly every single snap with the first team offense this pre-season. Strange as it is, it looks like Moore is going to be the starting #2 WR beside Boldin. That being said, Ricardo Lockette looked like he was getting a lot of reps in practice, then he was cut so they could sign Seneca Wallace. If I had to guess right now, I'm thinking the final depth chart looks like so:

Boldin
Moore
Williams
Patton
Baldwin
Collie

Moore is only worth a look in real deep leagues (12+ teams with 3 WR slots), but Patton might be worth a flier in a dynasty league. He's young and has shown a ton of grit, desire, and ability in the preseason.

[QuikSand]

Not a ton of penetrating insight here, but the Ravens made a small-scale trade to get RB Delone Carrter from the Colts. No, Carter is not a guy who is worthy of any serious attention, I don't think, but...

It appears they are worried about the short yardage and goal line setup. If you're targeting Ray Rice in a fantasy league, then there are two major questions -- how much of a time split will there be between him and Bernard Pierce? And who is going to get the main short TD opportunities?

The time split issue is very real, and I think the smart money is that Rice is going to get used in the "Sproles" role more than most people think -- swing passes from the backfield, lining up in the slot sometimes, lots of motion, etc. To be candid, running between the tackles last year, many feel Pierce is actually more effective (I'm close to this view), given the type of team Baltimore wants to be.

Bringing in Carter to audition for, essentially, a RB3 slot suggests they might not like either one of these guys for short yardage duty. He's up against Anthony Allen, a guy who works hard and always looks great against the third team defenses in preseason -- but who is essentially the same style back they already have. If Carter makes the team, which I think is better than 50/50, then it would be wise to assume that he'll siphon off something like 4 TD runs away from the top two guys over the course of the season.

Rice is the guy everyone's interested in, so here's my full-season speculation for him:

~900 yards rushing, 5 TD (in about 180-200 carries)
~800 yards receiving, 4 TD (on about 80 receptions)

1700 total yards is a pretty valuable guy, but he might end up being short on scores. In a PPR league, he could be a bit more valuable than last year, even if he's short on TDs.

Pierce is a very rosterable backup RB, but the flirtation with Carter drops much of the allure he might have if he were penciled in as the goal line guy. Instead, consider him a 1/3-duty guy who would probably get a ton of work if the top guy got hurt -- personally, I think these guys are underrated in FF overall. But is everyone stays healthy and they stay on script, I think you see Pierce with around 200-900 and 5 TD, with modest receiving stats.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Of those three? I'd take Weeden on upside. Flacco is probably the best pick, but Weeden has looked amazing this pre-season, the team's got a great O-Line and Richardson is a beast.

To update the 49er WR battle (because I know everyone's been eagerly awaiting this information)...

Locks to make the roster:
Anquan Boldin
Kyle Williams
Quinton Patton

Strong contenders:
Marlon Moore
Jon Baldwin
Austin Collie

In the mix:
Kassim Osgood
Chad Hall

Longshots:
Lavelle Hawkins

Hawkins had a kickoff return TD tonight...but he also had THREE unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Patton looked very good, and Marlon Moore has had nearly every single snap with the first team offense this pre-season. Strange as it is, it looks like Moore is going to be the starting #2 WR beside Boldin. That being said, Ricardo Lockette looked like he was getting a lot of reps in practice, then he was cut so they could sign Seneca Wallace. If I had to guess right now, I'm thinking the final depth chart looks like so:

Boldin
Moore
Williams
Patton
Baldwin
Collie

Moore is only worth a look in real deep leagues (12+ teams with 3 WR slots), but Patton might be worth a flier in a dynasty league. He's young and has shown a ton of grit, desire, and ability in the preseason.

I don't see how the Niners would cut Baldwin after trading a guy they drafted in the first round for him (even if Jenkins hasn't done squat to prove he was worth that pick). I would think he would be in the "definitely making the roster" list.

Doesn't mean he plays much, of course.

[kcchief19]

No surprise that a 2-14 team doesn't have a lot of fantasy worthy talent, and that's pretty much the case in KC.

Alex Smith will be a game manager and the receiving corps is weak. Dwayne Bowe has been a decent fantasy receiver in the past, but Reid wants Smith to look at TEs first, so most of the time Bowe will not be the first option. One would think they need to target Bowe given his big contract. But maturity has always been a Bowe issue, and it's easy to conclude that now that he has his money he may not be as aggressive as in the past. And with no other receivers on the team, he's going to draw the toughest matchups and double teams. I have a hard time seeing Bowe top his output from the past, although a 1,000 yards and 6 TDs sounds right to me.

Never allow Dexter McCluster to dazzle you with his speed. Everybody who coaches McCluster thinks he will be a matchup nightmare for the defense, until they realize he can't get open, can't catch the ball and gets tackled be a light breeze.

Chiefs TEs will over perform but not significantly so. First off there are too many of them, second is they are all pretty average. They will get plenty of balls, so I can see Fasano and Moeaki getting close to their career highs. Travis Kelce could unseat Moeaki as the No. 2 guy, but I have a hard time seeing him make a big impact.

The two Chiefs to target fantasy wise are Jamal Charles and the D/ST. If Charles stays healthy, he could easily end up being the No. 1 fantasy back this year. The Chiefs are going to use him in both the running and passing games. In a PPR league, his value could be astronomical. A 1,600 yard rushing, 500 yards receiving, 10 TDs wouldn't surprise me at all, and those might be on the low side. The 2011 ACL season aside, he doesn't have much mileage. He put up huge numbers while sharing carries with Larry Johnson in 2009 and Thomas Jones in 2010. Last year on a two-win team was the first time he's been the lead back, and he put up 1,500 on 285 carries. He's the 2007 Brian Westbrook.

Chiefs D/ST could be a real value. Probably won't go high, but they should score. Dave Toub from the Bears is the new special teams coach, and after three games I'm convinced Devin Hester was a system kick returner. Chiefs have returned two kicks for TDs in the preseason, had a couple of others that were close and blocked a couple of kicks. Word out of training camp was that special teams looked terrific in practice as well. The defensive numbers might be average -- below average sacks, maybe above average takeaways. But this is a team where D/ST will score TDs.

K Ryan Succop may also be worth a flyer as a cheap kicker. The Chiefs offense seems like the type that will settle for field goals. He's been almost automatic for 100 points a season, but I wouldn't be surprised if he went for 120+ this year. He won't be a top 5 kicker this year but I'd project top 10.

[Logan]

I actually like Donnie Avery a lot as a sleeper in PPR leagues since you can get him as your last WR. He's always been considered very talented but had issues staying healthy. He performed well last year with Luck in Indy (60 for 780, TDs were light) and I think he could work better with Smith. He finished as WR42 in my PPR league last year. Not bad at all for where you get him.

[albionmoonlight]

Ingram and Thomas both have gotten more looks in the passing game than they have in the past. I might downgrade Sproles a bit based on that. Some of his targets from last season will go to Ingram and Thomas, I suspect.

I don't, however, know if that really increases either Ingram or Thomas a lot in value. Seems to be a real RBBC in New Orleans this season.

[Vince, Pt. II]

So the Niners did almost what I predicted - they kept 5 receivers instead of 6, and Austin Collie got the axe. Which leaves:

Anquan Boldin
Kyle Williams
Marlon Moore
Quinton Patton
Jon Baldwin

Harbaugh hasn't named starters yet, but it's clear that Boldin is #1 while Crabtree is out. The team is likely to use multiple TE sets often, as they really like rookie Vance McDonald, but if any of Moore, Williams or Patton is getting regular playing time as the #2 WR they're worth a look in bigger, deeper leagues.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Sudfeld (not Ballard) is a good pick up when Gronk is out of action (I won't rule Gronk out from playing Week 1, but he should start on the PUP list and miss the first 6 games).

Gronk doesn't start on the PUP list, but got the rest right as Ballard was released. If you don't have Jimmy Graham at TE and by some miracle Sudfeld is still available on the waiver wire, he'll be a great play the first few weeks.

[Vince, Pt. II]

49ers WR Depth Chart, Week 1:

WR1: Anquan Boldin, Marlon Moore, Jon Baldwin
WR2: Kyle Williams, Quinton Patton, Chris Harper (rookie signed off Seattle's practice squad)

Williams might be worth a look in super deep leagues, and Patton might be worth a nod in deep dynasty/keeper leagues, but Boldin's really your only main fantasy contributor.