The 49ers are expected to get Christian McCaffrey ($8,000) back in their lineup this week and are coming back from their bye week into the matchup with the highest over/under of Week 10. Getting CMC back will be a huge boost to the backfield, but what about at wide receiver, where the team is still trying to fill the gap left by Brandon Aiyuk’s injury? Jauan Jennings ($5,100) and Ricky Pearsall ($4,400) are both good candidates to exceed expectations this week, and you can use them both in fantasy depending on your league size and situation.
Let’s break down how:
The situation
Even after the team’s by week, Deebo Samuel Sr. ($6,900; rib/oblique) and Jennings have both been limited in practice this week. Deebo had a monster game against the Seahawks in Week 6, but has been held under 13 fantasy points in every game since Week 2 aside from that one breakout performance. Samuel will get plenty of targets when healthy, but he could be at less than 100% this week.
Jennings missed each of the 49ers’ last two weeks with a hip injury before the bye week. The timing of that inury was especially brutal for the 49ers who lost Aiyuk for the year in Week 7. Before the injury, Aiyuk averaged 6.7 targets per game and totaled 374 yards on 25 catches.
Without Aiyuk, there should be wide receiver production on the table even if George Kittle ($5,800) continues to feast and CMC gets more targets out of the backfield.
Can you go back to the well on Jauan Jennings?
Jennings had a monster game back in Week 3, emerging as a fantasy football darling that week after catching 11 passes for 175 yards, three touchdowns and 49.5 fantasy points against the Rams.
Over the next three weeks, he was targeted 15 times but only had seven catches for a total of 128 yards and no more touchdowns.
If he’s ready to return this week, Jennings definitely could step into the Aiyuk role and be very productive. He has a great rapport with Brock Purdy ($6,500) and is often called on in critical situations. He also gets a great matchup this week against the Buccaneers, who have allowed this sixth-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers this season.
If he does come back, Jennings is definitely a nice pickup for season-long leagues this week and a solid play for DFS contests like the NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st], where his salary of only $5,100 gives him huge value potential. If Samuel is limited or out, Jennings would have an even higher ceiling going forward.
Ricky Pearsall’s sleeper potential
The DK Network team has been high on Pearsall for a while, and my colleague Dan Johnson wrote that he was a solid stash all the way back before Week 7. Pearsall made his NFL debut that week and caught 3-of-5 targets for 21 yards. The following week, he hauled in all four of his targets for 38 yards and also broke off a 39-yard run.
Pearsall was a first-round talent that has a ton of upside in all formats due to all the injuries ahead of him on the depth chart. With Aiyuk out, he should be at least in the top three WR for the Niners behind only Aiyuk and Jennings, who are both dealing with injuries. Even if both are active, they could be limited or suffer in-game setbacks, which would open up lots of work for Pearsall.
I really like Pearsall as a value play at $4,400 in DFS contests this week and he’s a great addition if everyone on your league has passed him over or had to drop him to navigate bye weeks.
The bottom line
The 49ers are 6.5-point favorites in Tampa, and they are +100 to score over 29.5 points. In such a potentially productive offense, both Jennings and Pearsall are good options to consider this week. Watch the 49ers injury report Friday afternoon carefully, but be ready to roll with either or both of them in this fantasy-friendly situation Sunday.
On Friday, Jennings is +180 to score a touchdown, and Pearsall offers good value at +125 to have over 2.5 catches and -115 to get over 24.5 receiving yards.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
