SF (23.50) @ TEN (20.50)
It seems like we have football just about every day right about now. It’s almost a little hard to keep track of what’s going on in the NFL. Here we have our regular weekly Thursday Night Football game. It looks like it should be a pretty close one, with San Francisco favored by three on the road against the Titans. These two teams are pretty healthy at the skill positions as far as the health protocols go. Hopefully, we aren’t thrown any crazy curve balls between now and game time.
San Francisco 49ers Overview
The 49ers are an easy team to figure out from a fantasy perspective. Jimmy Garoppolo is generally not a high-volume passer or a threat on the ground, making him suboptimal for DFS. The 49ers would prefer to run the ball and manage games conservatively. Garoppolo is undoubtedly playable on a one-game showdown, and he does occasionally show fantasy upside. We’ll have to see how ownership projections shake out closer to lock. I would not be surprised to see Jimmy G fairly low-owned for a quarterback in a showdown contest.
With Eli Mitchell hurt, we can pretty much count on Jeff Wilson Jr. to be the number one back for San Francisco. He should be immensely chalky on this slate at just $5200 as the RB1 for a team that loves to run the football. This may be chalk worth eating while differentiating elsewhere in our lineups. We can expect to see Kyle Juszczyk and JaMycal Hasty mix into the ground game. Still, barring an injury to Wilson, they will likely need to see the end zone to be fantasy relevant. However, they are very cheap, and this is well within the realm of possibility. I see no issue playing one or the other with Wilson Jr., considering the low cumulative price of the combo.
Although Garoppolo is not the most superb quarterback option in fantasy and the 49ers are not an aggressive passing team, their target tree is very condensed. Deebo Samuel and George Kittle will get the majority of the work, with Brandon Aiyuk having some involvement. Kittle and Samuel will undoubtedly be popular options here. The only other Niners pass-catcher you could seriously consider outside of an outright value punt would be Jauan Jennings.
Kickers and defenses are always in play on showdowns, and Robbie Gould is undoubtedly an option. The Niners’ defense has shown a ceiling. This could be a decent matchup against a Tennessee team with critical players on their offensive line out and a lack of potent offensive weapons.
Tennessee Titans Overview
The Titans will go to battle with Ryan Tannehill under center. Tannehill has primarily been a non-factor in DFS this year. The lack of weapons around him certainly factors in. Christian McCaffrey has not been healthy for much of the year, and he played a massive part in the Titans’ passing game. A.J. Brown has missed games, and Julio Jones has been inactive or ineffective due to injury and age. Tannehill will undoubtedly get ownership since this is a one-game contest. Still, like Garopollo, he will likely be rostered less than may be warranted for a quarterback on a showdown slate.
It may be tough sledding against the 49ers’ stingy run defense for the Titans. D’Onta Foreman has stepped in as the lead back in McCaffrey’s absence and has been relatively effective. He is more expensive ($7,600) than Jeff Wilson Jr. but is still cheap for a number-one back. I would still expect to see Wilson Jr. get far more ownership. Dontrell Hilliard and Jeremy McNichols should mix into the action and get a few receptions. Still, neither are good options outside of tournament punts.
A.J. Brown is expected to come back from injury this week, and we will have to see how effective he is. Julio Jones will surprisingly be active as well. This does give Tannehill his top two weapons, yet the health and efficacy of Jones are highly questionable. Brown has also taken a significant step backward this year. This may be primarily due to the offense he is surrounded by.
Jones is definitely not the Julio Jones of old, but he is only $6,800. He could quickly pay off his price tag if he regains a fraction of his previous magic. The left side of the Titans O-line will also be out, which does not bode terribly well for Tannehill’s time in the pocket. Nor does it bode well for the running game. This could be a tough one for the Titans’ offense overall.
At best, besides Brown and Jones, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Chester Rogers are fringe plays in the passing game. Still, mainly if Jones is limited, either could spike a big game by their standards and end up in the optimal lineup. Tennessee’s tight-end situation is far from ideal with Geoff Swaim, MyCole Pruitt, and Anthony Firkser sharing duties. All are cheap, but it is hard to target a tight-end in this kind of timeshare for DFS.
Titans kicker Randy Bullock is in play for savings if you need to fill a spot for around $4,200. Since they may struggle to get much going, it wouldn’t be surprising to see their kicker be one of their top scorers. The Titans have had some big games defensively, even against some tough competition. They are an intriguing play in GPPs, as I wouldn’t expect them to be overly popular considering the Niners’ tough offense. It may also be hard to get many points out of the Titans players here, and perhaps their defense comes up better than many of the offensive pieces.
Conclusion
It will be important to get different here in tournaments. Most builds will include Jeff Wilson Jr. for savings, enabling you to pay up for some combo of Kittle, Samuel, the QBs, and A.J. Brown. Since this will be such a chalky construction, it is good to think of other build methods using less of these main chalk pieces in the same lineup.
I'm a DFS player (JackG1111), DFS content provider, and musician.
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