After a ridiculous game last week due to horrid weather conditions, the San Francisco 49ers will host the Carolina Panthers in a much better landscape that will allow both quarterbacks to play to their talents. But a sunny day might turn out to be the only good-looking thing come Sunday as this game has the second-lowest total of the slate at just 42 points.

With half of the season almost gone we know what Jimmy Garoppolo is up to, and that has mostly been winning football games. The problem for fantasy owners is that those wins aren’t exactly translating to fantasy production. In six games, Garoppolo has thrown eight touchdowns to six interceptions (bad), racked up 1,315 combined yards but never reached 300 in a single game (worse), and is averaging 15.5 fantasy points per game to rank as the QB26 overall. This guy is a winner, but not a great fantasy asset, and it shows in his profile as a passer. Garoppolo is on a three-game streak in which he’s averaging fewer than 7.5 yards per attempt and even with that risk-averse approach he’s failed to throw a touchdown in his last two games while being picked twice. The 49ers have added a new no. 1 WR to their attack in Emmanuel Sanders, and that should at least make Garoppolo more willing to try something, but until he really shows it I won’t trust him a lot.

Kyle Allen should be happy as he’s getting another start this weekend over a still-recovering Cam Newton. It is the correct choice today, but this decision shouldn’t repeat itself many more times going forward. Allen has won all of his games, yes, but he’s nothing out of this world and similar to Garoppolo he is a master at avoiding trouble (no interceptions in his four games). That, as I already said, is a problem in fantasy football. Allen’s best passing yardage mark came in Week 3 (261) but he’s never topped 232 yards since then. He has thrown three touchdowns in his last three games and never crossed the 20-point fantasy points in any of those matches. Another thing to have in consideration when deciding what to do with Allen is the strength of the schedule he’s navigated so far: Arizona (ranked 29th against QBs), Houston (28th), Jacksonville (15th), and Tampa Bay (27th). Kind of easy, wasn’t it?

Fantasy football analysis, 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo, Panthers QB Kyle Allen

This weekend’s game between these two teams can become a snoozefest. The total is low, and both quarterbacks have the same low-scoring favorable traits. While Garoppolo has more experience and brings more upside (because he’s more talented than Allen and because of Sander’s addition), he’s isn’t that far from what Allen offers in the fantasy football realm. None of the two are averaging more than 18 fantasy points per game and neither looks poised to do so this weekend.

The matchup looks horrid for Kyle Allen. San Francisco’s defense is battling with New England’s to be named the best in the league, and is currently allowing the second-fewest points per game to quarterbacks. Allen will be facing his toughest opponent since he made it to the starting lineup and he will probably do nothing. Garoppolo won’t have such a strong defense in front of him but Carolina has been average at stopping QBs. They are the 14th-best team at it and have limited the position to 15 or fewer fantasy points in three of their six games, with only two quarterbacks passing for more than 208 against them since the start of the season.

Start/Sit recommendation

Jimmy Garoppolo: Sit
Kyle Allen: Sit