Fantasy News

Some thoughts on the 49ers:

With as many pass plays as Mike Martz calls, some receiver on the San Francisco roster will catch 80 passes. And probably Bryant Johnson will be the first one selected in most fantasy drafts. But I’m not a big Johnson fan. He had plenty of chances to make an impression in Arizona, and he almost always fell short. The Cardinals pass the ball around pretty well, and Johnson got to start 16 games for them in the last four years when either Anquan Boldin or Larry Fitzgerald was hurt. That’s an exact season worth of action. But Johnson caught only 58 passes for 660 yards and 5 TDs in those 16 games. Unless he knocks my socks off in the preseason games, I won’t be drafting him this year.

I’m leery of Vernon Davis. Talented guy – unusual speed and strength. But he doesn’t seem to have good hands or a great feel for getting open, and I worry that he could be underused in Mike Martz’s offense. Martz likes to pass the hell out of the ball, of course, but he historically hasn’t made much use of his tight ends. In the last five years, Martz’s tight ends have accounted for a league-low 8 percent of his team’s receptions.

Joe Nedney is a good kicker. His only two misses last year were from 52 and 55 yards. And over the last four years, only Matt Stover has converted a higher percentage of field goals. Nedney isn’t going to get enough scoring chances to be a significant fantasy player, but it won’t be his fault.

Mike Martz started sputting off about Frank Gore last month, calling him another Marshall Faulk. But any time Martz’s fingerprints are on a running game, I get nervous. He had pretty good talent in his final years in St. Louis, with Faulk and Steven Jackson, and in each of his last two full years there, his teams ranked 30th in rushing. And Martz’s offense in Detroit ranked last in rushing over the 2006-2007 seasons, attempting the fewest rushing plays ever in consecutive 16-game seasons. So I’m not buying into the theory that Gore is going to run for 1,300-plus yards.

--Ian Allan

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