San Francisco 49ers Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

The Texans released WR Chris Conley. That leaves them with just 4 WRs on the roster: Brandin Cooks, Nico Collins, Chris Moore and Phillip Dorsett. Houston figures to add to the position over the next few days, but Cooks and Collins are the only fantasy-relevant players here.

The 49ers kept 5 RBs on their initial 53-man roster: Elijah Mitchell, Jeff Wilson, Trey Sermon, Ty Davis-Price and Jordan Mason. Mitchell is the clear lead back heading into Week 1, but keeping 5 RB is another sign that San Francisco is worried about Mitchell holding up. Unfortunately, there's no clear-cut handcuff to Mitchell at this point.

49ers RB Elijah Mitchell (hamstring) returned to practice on Sunday. He'd been out for over 2 weeks and missed all 3 of San Francisco's preseason games. Barring a setback, though, he should be ready to operate as the 49ers' lead back come Week 1.

49ers WR Deebo Samuel is sidelined for Sunday's practice with a "contusion behind his knee," according to insider Matt Maiocco. "He probably won’t practice this week, but should be good to go for preparations to face the Bears in Week 1," Maiocco adds. We'll keep an eye on Samuel but aren't adjusting his spot in the WR Rankings.

Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle writes: "The first three completions in Tuesday’s practice went to the same player: Brandon Aiyuk. In other words, the still-sizzling wide receiver finished camp the way he started, and he appears poised for a breakout third NFL season.” The buzz has followed Aiyuk for weeks and pushed his ADP up some. He still resides well into WR3 territory in most cases, though, a level that allows for plenty of upside room. Aiyuk's potential ascension could lower the ceiling for WR Deebo Samuel by siphoning target share in what we expect to be 1 of the league's most run-leaning offenses. We've been much more interested in Aiyuk than Samuel at their relative draft costs.

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan confirmed Tuesday that RB Elijah Mitchell is "on schedule” to play Week 1. He’s missed time with a hamstring injury, but it’s not expected to be a long-term issue. He remains a fringe RB2.

Washington has moved DE Chase Young to the Reserve/PUP list, knocking him out for at least the 1st 4 games of the regular season. It's not a surprising development, given that he has yet to get back to the practice field and that HC Ron Rivera had intimated the PUP was a possibility. You should not have Young prominent in the 2022 plans for your IDP fantasy football league. We'll see if he has a shot at getting back to full strength later this season. James Smith-Williams looks poised to start in Young's place, opposite Montez Sweat.

Steelers WR Anthony Miller is expected to be out "several months" with a shoulder injury, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. It sounds like Miller will miss the entire 2022 season. He was battling for a roster spot in Pittsburgh and wasn't on the redraft fantasy radar anyway. But it's probably safe to drop Miller from dynasty rosters if you're still hanging on.

ESPN's Nick Wagoner says 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk "has been the team's most consistent offensive performer in camp." That's a particularly positive review for Aiyuk. Few question the former 1st-round pick's talent, but inconsistent performance dogged him last year -- especially early. Wagoner points out that Aiyuk had a similarly strong start to last year's camp but "tapered off" after a preseason hamstring injury. If Aiyuk can stay healthy and keep the effort up, he carries breakout difference-making potential from a fantasy football ADP that has hovered around WR40.

49ers RB Elijah Mitchell has a hamstring injury that is expected to keep him out of the entire preseason, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. "Mitchell is expected to be ready for the start of the regular season," Schefter adds. It's still disconcerting news, though, on a player that dealt with a bunch of different injuries as a rookie last year (although he had no hamstring trouble). We'll see when Mitchell is able to get back on the field. RB Trey Sermon drew the start in Friday night's preseason opener.

Panthers HC Matt Rhule has no plans to lighten RB Christian McCaffrey's workload. “Christian’s a dominant football player," Rhule said. "He plays a high-contact, high-percent-of-injury position. We’re going to put him out there and play him. think we’re all thinking about Christian one way only, and that’s attack.” McCaffrey, by the way, has had a healthy camp so far after missing significant time in both of the last 2 seasons. He's the odds-on favorite to lead RBs in fantasy points per game.

Elijah Mitchell "continues to look like the clear-cut No. 1 option at RB" for the 49ers, ESPN's Nick Wagoner tweeted on Friday. That's been the consistent sentiment coming out of 49ers camp so far. Mitchell figures to lose some goal-line work to QB Trey Lance and doesn't project for a big role in the passing game. But he could still deliver value on his RB24 ADP.

49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk has been the star of training camp the past few days. Teammates are impressed with his play. "Right now he’s having an outstanding camp," S Jimmie Ward said Wednesday. "B.A. has taken his game to another level. It’s crazy. I haven’t won a one-on-one rep with him yet." Aiyuk found himself in HC Kyle Shanahan's doghouse around this time a year ago and got off to a slow start. But he tallied a 47-730-4 line over his final 11 games, ranking 16th among WRs in PPR points. We still have some volume concerns here as Aiyuk fights for targets with Deebo Samuel and George Kittle in what figures to be a run-heavy offense. But Aiyuk is fairly priced at his current WR42 ADP.

After 49ers WR Deebo Samuel requested a trade this offseason, word spread that he wasn't happy with the way the team used him in the 2nd half of last season. That's when Samuel saw a near-even split between receiving (87 catches) and rushing (86 carries). "That's false," he told reporters Tuesday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Samuel apparently didn't elaborate. That doesn't seem to put us any closer to knowing how his touches will break down in 2022 and beyond -- especially after learning that his extension includes annual $650,000 incentives for reaching 380 rushing yards. What we do know is that there's a lot about his 2021 season that Samuel will have a hard time repeating.

The 49ers and WR Deebo Samuel have agreed to a 3-year extension. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that it's a $71.55 million deal, with a max value of $73.5 million and $58.1 million in guarantees. The length of the contract means Samuel will hit another contract year at age 29. This should return the star WR to full practice, after a tumultuous offseason.

49ers beat writer Jennifer Lee Chan calls WR Brandon Aiyuk a training camp “standout.” Aiyuk, who was in HC Kyle Shanahan’s doghouse for part of last year, appears on the right track in year 3. “I like what I see out of B.A.,” LB Fred Warner said. “He works super hard. He’s starting to really getting into that mindset that he’s the guy, and he’s capable. I’m just trying to get the best out of him. That’s also just putting pressure on me. I’m also trying ways to get the best out of myself.” Only 24, Aiyuk could enter the WR3 mix if Trey Lance takes a big step forward.

49ers insider Grant Cohn expects RB Elijah Mitchell to remain the team's clear lead back this season. "Elijah's good. I don't necessarily think they're gonna dial back his workload," Cohn said on the Draft Sharks podcast. "The issue with him was that he was 205 pounds and kept getting hurt ... This year he's 215 [pounds]. He's way bigger ... So I think the idea is, he's the starter." Mitchell averaged a big 18.8 carries per game last year. If he gets anything close to that in 2022, he'll return value at his 5th-round price tag.

Commanders HC Ron Rivera told reporters Friday that DE Chase Young will "probably miss a little bit of time" at the beginning of the regular season, according to the Washington Times. Rivera reportedly talked about the PUP list initially before backtracking on that. It's clear that Young will at least miss Week 1, and we'd bet that the PUP remains a possibility. That would sideline the DE for at least the 1st 4 games. Young is still working back from a November ACL tear that included patellar damage.

Niners DE Nick Bosa says the beginning of this year's training camp has been "completely different" because of better health. "Last year, I didn't really take any reps until a couple of weeks before the year," he said Friday, per NBC Sports Bay Area. Last year's camp found Bosa still working back from the ACL tear that ended his 2020 campaign in Week 2. His rookie camp featured Bosa missing a lot of time with a hamstring injury. The beast still managed 15.5 sacks and a league-leading 21 tackles for loss in 2021. And he was no slouch as a 2019 rookie (25 QB hits). If we get an even better version of Bosa this year ... we might not even know yet what the ceiling is. Grant Cohn of All49ers.com told us on Friday's podcast that San Francisco has a shot to sport the league's best defense this season. Bosa is a key factor in that.

Commanders DE Chase Young remains on the PUP list, and HC Ron Rivera doesn't make it sound like he expects the player back soon. “He’s been working hard,” Rivera said Tuesday, according to Ben Standig of The Athletic. “His rehab’s been going well from what we’ve seen and what we understand. But you never really know until you get to get your hands back on him. But Chase Young is probably the one that’s going to take the most time. It was serious, obviously, and any time you’re talking about an ACL, it’s just down the line. We’ll have to wait and see on that one.” In addition to tearing his right ACL, Young also damaged the patella in that knee. Young is expected to take longer to return than teammate TE Logan Thomas, who suffered his ACL tear in December. "Different type of injury," Rivera said, in comparing the 2. Young will make for a high-risk IDP selection at least until he's back on the field. At this point, he's far from a lock to be ready for the regular-season opener. We have moved him further down our 2022 IDP rankings.