Frank Gore is the best fantasy option from the 49ers.
(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Between now and until players report to training camp later this month, one of the things I like to do (and assuming most of you do) is to prepare for fantasy football.
I just recently signed up for two leagues and with that, there are the rankings that I have to take notice for the players prior to the draft.
Since both of my leagues are on Yahoo, and most of my friends use Yahoo as well, I wanted to just talk about the rankings of some 49ers on the list.
The first player and possibly the biggest value for any of the 49ers has to be running back Frank Gore.
According to the Yahoo rankings, Gore is the ninth best running back and 10th best player overall. Ahead of Gore are players that have had bigger seasons than Gore, so it makes sense for an injury-prone running back to be that far behind. I am surprised that LaDainian Tomlinson is still ranked so high up even though he had a terrible ending to last season.
The quarterback position sees Shaun Hill as the 25th best quarterback available. Even a retired Brett Favre is ranked higher on the list. Alex Smith doesn't even make the Top 50.
For the past few seasons, the hopes for tight end Vernon Davis were extremely high. But Davis has not lived up to any of those expectations. Davis is ranked at 16th in all tight ends. He should be a steal this year since his expectations aren't that high. However, his offensive explosion should take off this year. Davis might be a great draft pick to get in the later rounds. He could very well be a huge fantasy sleeper.
WR Michael Crabtree is ranked at #36, the highest ranking for any 49er. I'm very surprised he would get such a high ranking for a rookie. And with a new 49ers offense, it's hard to really predict how well he would perform. The next is Isaac Bruce at #58, Josh Morgan at #90 and Arnaz Battle at #93.
I think Morgan's value may be higher by mid-season. Last year he showed great signs of potential and I would expect him to build on that for this upcoming season. He might be the biggest steal on the team.
Kicker Joe Nedney is at #20. For kickers, there are two ways to approach. Either draft a kicker with a great offense, in which then you know he would get a lot of scoring opportunities for point after kicks. Or you can draft one on a mediocre offense and you know he would get lots of field goal attempts. Kickers are a hard one to look into, but a kicker with a good leg (Nedney is one for sure) helps out for those long kicks.
For any of you running a defense, the top scoring individual is Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware. Ranked #19 from last year is Patrick Willis. Willis wouldn't be the top selection, but his tackles help out a lot in terms of racking up points.
You would want to look for a player that can get tackles and sacks, like a pass rusher. Defensive end Justin Smith is at #63 as the next 49er on the list. Defense is a really hard position to choose from, but for most leagues, they only have one or two defensive players. It might not make sense to take any 49ers (except Willis) for a defensive player. But this year, I hope that if you are going to select a 49er hoping for a breakout season, you might to just go with linebacker Parys Haralson.
Hopefully this gives you a little idea on which 49ers are on the verge of being fantasy studs.
Trying out Twitter for 49ers updates. Check me out here @SLam49ers
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