Best 49ers-centric strategy for 49ers vs. Chiefs simulation Showdown

The sports world has been mostly suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, but DraftKings is offering some fun alternatives to keep us engaged. Although the NFL season is still five months away, DraftKings is rescuing us with Simulated NFL contests. Here are the rules, so be sure to go over them before making a lineup. I’ll pull the part about how scoring works, since that’s most important:

All RB/WR/TE will receive points for their performance in a specific game from the 2019/20 season. Each individual player will be randomly assigned stats from a single game in the 2019-20 season prior to the contest going live. QBs will receive passing yards and passing TD stats based on their teammates’ receiving performances and the remainder of the QBs stats (rushing yards, rushing TDs, interceptions and fumbles) from a specific game in the 2019-20 season. Points will be revealed per player as the game moves along. Players will receive points in accordance with our single-game NFL Showdown Captain Mode rules and scoring.

We’ve offered a best overall lineup strategy for this free Simulated Football Showdown contest, but let’s consider a 49ers-specific lineup for this rematch of the Big Game between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.

Captain’s Picks

George Kittle, TE ($14,400)

We’re looking for some measure of high level consistency given the 1.5x bonus for the captain slot. Emmanuel Sanders had bigger single games, but Kittle was most consistent across the whole season. He had seven games of single digit points and ten games of double digit points, which offers some modest upside.

Jimmy Garoppolo, QB ($15,000)

The quarterback is usually a strong captain option, but this contest is a little different. Jimmy G’s passing yardage is based on the randomly selected performances of his receivers. There’s some upside, but Garoppolo is decidedly less valuable because the only thing his position controls is his rushing, which was limited. It comes down to whether or not Kittle, Sanders, and Deebo Samuel get assigned some of their stronger performances.

FLEX Options

Raheem Mostert, RB ($5,600)

This is a serious boom-or-bust play. Mostert had three performances of 20+ points and one of 19.3, while also having eight games with less than six points. Mostert is a huge value at this price point and he’s either gonna be a hugely owned player or ignored a fair amount. Either way he’s worth grabbing for your roster.

Deebo Samuel, WR ($7,400)

If you wanted to roll the dice at Captain, Deebo actually offers some decent value with eight games of double digit performances. But that aside, he’s a quality flex option with his late-season surge of four double digit performances in his final five weeks. He’s going to be a stronger fantasy option in 2020 with Emmanuel Sanders leaving, but he turned into a solid 2019 option with his rushing additions to the receiving game.

Tevin Coleman, RB ($5,800)

By the end of the season, Coleman was all but non-existent in the 49ers backfield, scoring 11.2 total points over the final five weeks of the regular season. However, he had a monster four touchdown performance in Week 8 and two touchdowns and 105 yards in the NFC Championship Game. With three other double digit fantasy performances under his belt, he’s a gamble worth considering if you want to avoid a potential Raheem Mostert rush.