Data as of July 25 | Current Cheatsheets | Current Projections

NR = Not ranked

QB Colin Kaepernick

Predicted to achieve fantasy stardom during his third year in the league, Kaepernick was somewhat of a disappointment in 2013 as he finished the season as the 12th ranked fantasy quarterback with 3,197 passing yards, 21 touchdown passes, 521 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. His owners suffered through a few horrendous weeks as he had games with nine, 11 and six fantasy points. While Kaepernick failed to top 200 passing yards an astounding ten times, he still managed to average 20.0 PPG based on his ability to run the ball. The issue in 2014 is how much stock do we place in the fact that Kaepernick topped 19 fantasy points in seven of the eight games after Michael Crabtree returned to the line up while averaging 22.5 PPG in those games? While we like his production during that stretch as well as the team’s decision to trade for Steve Johnson, it is impossible to ignore the fact that the 49ers have been a run first team and we don’t expect that to change in 2014. That limits Kaepernick’s upside and, once again, makes him no better than a low end QB1 in 2014, albeit one who has major upside based on his abilities and the team’s solid group of receivers.

RB Frank Gore

At 31 years of age, Gore has become Mr. Consistency for fantasy purposes. Not sexy, not expected to break out. Just good, old fashioned solid and consistent. He topped 1,000 rushing yards for the 3rd consecutive season, giving him that honor in seven of the last eight seasons. He has finished the last three seasons as the 13th, 11th and 13th ranked running back with between 1,128 and 1,211 rushing yards and between 180.5 and 198.8 fantasy points. At 31, you know you’re going to spend another summer reading about how THIS is the year that he finally hits the wall. While we won’t go so far as to predict a crash landing for the 49er legend, we do think this is the year the team scales back his touches as it looks ahead to 2015 when Gore is scheduled for free agency. Given that, we rate Gore as a mid to lower tier RB3 in 2014.

RB Carlos Hyde

Looking ahead to the days when Frank Gore will no longer be their bell cow runner, the 49ers couldn’t resist the temptation to grab Hyde in the 2nd round of this year’s NFL Draft. The 5’11”, 230 pound Hyde enjoyed a stellar collegiate career at Ohio State and is built to handle a workhorse role as a pro. Although the 49ers have a quality stable of running backs that includes Marcus Lattimore, a 4th round selection in the 2013 draft who had 1st round talent before suffering a gruesome knee injury, we expect that Hyde will emerge as Gore’s top backup this season and will earn the mantel as his heir apparent. That makes Hyde a must have handcuff for Gore owners and an outstanding prospect in dynasty formats.

RB Kendall Hunter

Hunter has done pretty much all he could do to convince the 49ers that he deserves a crack at being the heir apparent to Frank Gore as the team’s starting running back. However, the team has used 2nd (LaMichael James), 4th (Marcus Lattimore) and 2nd (Carlos Hyde) round draft picks on the running back position since Hunter was taken in the 4th round of the 2011 NFL Draft. We can safely assume the team does not view him as a potential starting running back and since he is entering the final year of his rookie contract, there is a chance that Hunter won’t be back with the team in 2015. While he won’t be Gore’s eventual replacement, Hunter could very well be his main backup once again in 2014. Having averaged 4.6 yards per carry over his career, it’s not like he has done anything to lose the job. That being said, we expect that either Hyde (most likely) or Lattimore will be Gore’s main backup with Hunter assuming a pass catching role out of the backfield. Even if Gore were to go down, we don’t think the team would insert Hunter into the starting line up. Dynasty leaguers may want to stash this productive back at the back end of their roster in hopes he finds a better situation in 2015.

RB Marcus Lattimore

San Francisco took a flier on Lattimore in the 4th round of the 2013 draft knowing he had little chance of playing as a rookie due to the horrific knee injury that ended his collegiate career. Now it looks like the South Carolina product, who would have been a 1st round selection given his solid size, speed and athletic ability, may spend a second consecutive season on the sideline. He opened camp on the non-football injury list and even if he returns at some point during the preseason, he figures to rate no higher than 4th on the depth chart at running back behind Frank Gore, incumbent backup Kendall Hunter and rookie 2nd round pick Carlos Hyde. While Lattimore’s comeback story has been a compelling one (hey, if you aren’t rooting for him, it says a lot), it looks like it may have hit a roadblock. Monitor his progress in the preseason given there is a chance that he could be worth a late round pick. Dynasty leaguers should no longer consider him a prime prospect.

RB LaMichael James

After two short years, the 49ers 2nd round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft has had his 49ers career short circuited. James will enter training camp no better than 5th on the depth chart and knowing the team spent the offseason attempting to trade him. The Oregon product possesses blazing speed but earned just 39 carries during his first two years in the league. Since James will almost certainly be released or traded prior to opening day, he may end up having some value with his new team.

WR Michael Crabtree

After suffering a torn Achilles tendon in the spring (a major injury for a wide receiver), Crabtree returned to the line up in Week 13 and played reasonably well, totaling 34 receptions for 487 yards and a touchdown over eight games including the playoffs. In 2014, he will look to regain the form that he displayed in 2012 when he posted career-highs across the board with 85 receptions for 1,105 yards and nine touchdowns. As quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s obvious go to receiver, we expect that Crabtree will approach that production this season but with Crabtree fighting for targets with Vernon Davis, Anquan Boldin and Steve Johnson in the 49ers heavily run based offense, we aren’t expecting him to approach his career highs. There are just too many games where the 49ers get ahead of a team early and are content to just pound away at the running game. That makes Crabtree a mid to lower tier WR2 with decent upside.

WR Anquan Boldin

First off, let’s hand out some kudos to Boldin for his career resurgence in his first season as a 49er last year. He topped 1,000 receiving yards for the first time since the 2009 season, finishing the year with 1,179 yards to go along with seven touchdowns. At the ripe old age of 33, he also hauled in a very respectable 65.4% of his passes, not bad for a player who was never known as a speedster. His solid production propelled him to a 15th place fantasy ranking at wide receiver, a great reward for his fantasy owners. Unfortunately, the fun should come to a halt in 2014. After missing 11 games last season, Michael Crabtree is expected to be fully healthy for the upcoming season and the 49ers also added Steve Johnson in the offseason, a player who has three 1,000 yard seasons to his credit. In a run heavy offense, there are only so many balls to go around and we don’t expect that Boldin will see enough of them to come close to matching his production last season. In fact, we don’t even project Boldin to finish as a decent WR3 in 12 team leagues.

WR Steve Johnson

You would be hard pressed to find a 28 year old wide receiver whose stock (both fantasy wise and in the real world) fell more than Steve Johnson over the course of a year. After becoming the first Buffalo Bills wide receiver to post three consecutive 1,000 yard seasons, Johnson put together a solid start to the 2013 season, gaining 236 yards and a pair of touchdowns during his first three games. The wheels came off after that as he missed four games due to injury and totaled just 361 yards and a touchdown in the final eight games that he appeared in. His decline in production (and let’s face it, maturity issues) caused the Bills to trade up in the draft to acquire Sammy Watkins, hastening Johnson’s departure via a trade to the 49ers. In 2014, Johnson will almost certainly come off the bench behind Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin playing in a run first offense that also features one of the league’s elite receiving tight ends in Vernon Davis. While all of that pretty much sounds the death knell for his fantasy prospects this season, Johnson is an oddly intriguing dynasty option given that Crabtree is scheduled for free agency at the end of the season and Boldin is hardly a sure bet to return in 2015 given his scheduled $5.5-million base salary and advancing age (he will be 34 on opening day 2015).

Quinton Patton

We keep hearing about how much the 49ers love Patton, their 4th round pick in the 2013 draft. Well, they love him so much they traded a conditional 2015 draft pick (a 4th round selection that could be upgraded to a 3rd) to acquire Steve Johnson and also used a 4th round selection in this year’s draft on Bruce Ellington. Oh, and they brought back Jonathan Baldwin and signed aging veteran Brandon Lloyd. As Jean-Paul Sartre, the famous French philosopher, notes, we define ourselves by our actions. Well, the 49ers actions tell you all you need to know about Patton’s fantasy prospects in 2014.

WR Bruce Ellington

A year after using a 4th round pick to acquire Quinton Patton, the 49ers were back at it this year, using another 4th rounder to acquire Ellington, a speedster out of South Carolina. Let’s be honest. San Francisco has been so overloaded with draft picks over the past two years that they can afford to stockpile players at an already overcrowded position like wide receiver. With a trio of proven veterans ahead of him in Michael Crabtree, Anquan Boldin and Steve Johnson, Ellington won’t even have a sniff of fantasy relevance for at least a couple of years, if at all.

TE Vernon Davis

Davis re-emerged as an upper tier fantasy weapon last season after a lackluster campaign in 2012 when he hauled in just 41 passes for 548 yards and five touchdowns. It seems it took a half a season for Davis to get on the same page with quarterback Colin Kaepernick. That happened early last season, as Davis totaled 404 receiving yards and six touchdowns in his first five games on his way to finishing the season with 52 receptions for 850 yards and 13 touchdowns (matching a career-high). Of course, it’s worth noting that Davis benefitted from Michael Crabtree missing 11 games with injury. In 2014, Crabtree is back to full health, Anquan Boldin also returns at wide receiver and the team added Steve Johnson in a trade with the Bills. That should add up to fewer targets for Davis. While we still like him as an upper tier TE1, we don’t expect that he will match his number two ranking from a year ago. Jimmy Graham, Julius Thomas and Jordan Cameron all rate higher than Davis and Rob Gronkowski gets the nod over him as well provided he can play in 12-14 games. Don’t reach for Davis in 2014 – you will be chasing last year’s fantasy production if you do.