Fantasy Football News

Niners WR Jauan Jennings won't win any Week 8 fantasy matchups with his 4 receptions for 45 yards in Sunday's loss to the Texans. But it marked a good outing for a receiver fighting through multiple injuries. Jennings led 49ers wideouts in total snaps and ran just one fewer route than WR Kendrick Bourne (30-31). Jennings' seven targets led the team by two, following another seven-target outing (last week) in which only Christian McCaffrey edged him. Jennings' consecutive 4-catch performances look good after his first four contests of the year produced reception totals of 2, 5, 2, and 1.

49ers WR Jauan Jennings told reporters after Sunday's loss to the Buccaneers that he's playing through five broken ribs and high- and low-ankle sprains. That would explain his one-catch outing vs. Tampa Bay. We're still waiting for the official snap counts from this one, but Jennings was certainly not a full-time player. And he was clearly not anywhere close to 100%. We'll keep an eye on his practice participation going forward for signs of improving health. But Jennings will be very tough to trust in fantasy lineups until we see his snap rate and production rebound to normal levels. His injuries also make WR Kendrick Bourne a more intriguing fantasy play, even if WR Ricky Pearsall and TE George Kittle return for Week 7.

49ers QB Brock Purdy (toe) and WRs Ricky Pearsall (knee) and Jauan Jennings (ankle, ribs) have all been ruled out for Thursday night's game against the Rams. It doesn't sound like any of their injuries are serious, but the short week did them no favors. We'll see if they can make it back for Week 6. QB Mac Jones makes another start vs. the Rams this week. He played well in Week 2 and 3 starts, completing 66% of his passes at 7.0 yards per attempt with 4 TDs vs. 1 INT. He'll be working with a rag tag group of pass catchers on Thursday night, though. The WR corps figures to be led by Kendrick Bourne, Demarcus Robinson, and Skyy Moore, while Jake Tonges again leads the TE room. We'd try not to mess with any of these guys in Week 5 fantasy lineups. RB Christian McCaffrey will be very busy yet again.

The 49ers are signing WR Kendrick Bourne to a one-year deal worth up to $5 million, according to his agent. San Francisco lost WR Jauan Jennings and TE George Kittle to injuries in the opener and remains without WR Brandon Aiyuk. We're still waiting to find out how long Jennings and Kittle will be out, but this pass-catching corps has become paper thin. Bourne spent his first four NFL seasons from 2017 to 2020 with HC Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers, averaging 442 yards per year. He most recently posted a 28-305-1 line in 12 games for the Patriots last season. Bourne could play as soon as this week, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. But he can be left on fantasy waiver wires for now.

Patriots WR Kendrick Bourne is believed to be dealing with an MCL injury, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Bourne is scheduled for a Monday MRI to get a better look at the damage. We should learn more tomorrow.

Patriots WR Kendrick Bourne has been ruled out of Week 8 with a knee injury. Bourne tallied 3 catches for 36 yards and 1 score prior to the injury.

Patriots WR DeVante Parker led the team in receiving with 57 yards in Sunday night’s loss vs. the Dolphins. The veteran recorded 6 catches on 8 targets in his season debut after missing Week 1 with a knee injury. Teammate Kendrick Bourne saw a team-high 9 targets and logged 4 catches for 29 yards. TE Hunter Henry is perhaps the most fantasy-relevant story from the game. He turned 7 targets into 6 catches for 52 yards and a TD en route to logging the most PPR points (17.2) of any TE in the Sunday slate. If Henry is still hanging around on the waiver wire, go ahead and scoop him up ahead of Week 3 vs. the Jets.

Patriots WR Tyquan Thornton (shoulder) has been placed on IR. He'll miss at least the first four weeks of the season. The second-year receiver was sidelined during the spring with a soft-tissue injury and then hurt his shoulder in mid-August. He's not worth rostering in redraft. JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, and Demario Douglas figure to open the season as New England's top four WRs.

The Athletic’s Chad Graff believes New England’s WRs corps “seems only marginally better than last year’s.” Graff calls DeVante Parker an “x-factor” but admits he’s “not sold yet” on Tyquan Thornton. He also questions the contract given to JuJu Smith-Schuster because of his injury history. Kendrick Bourne, meanwhile, isn’t considered a roster lock. (Yeah, it’s pretty clear why the Pats pursued DeAndre Hopkins.) We’ll monitor this unit come training camp. The chemistry between JuJu and Mac Jones is something to really focus on, as the 26-year-old missed most of the spring with a knee issue.

Patriots WR Kendrick Bourne left in the 1st half of Sunday's game vs. the Browns with a toe injury. He's officially questionable to return. Stay tuned for an update.

Patriots WR Tyquan Thornton suffered a collarbone injury in Friday night's preseason game, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Rapoport doesn't say Thornton's collarbone is broken, but it sure sounds like that's the case. Thornton's season is "now put on hold, though based on his timetable, the injury to the speedster is not season ending." We'll look for a more concrete timeline, but Thornton isn't worth a roster spot in redraft leagues. His absence leaves Jakobi Meyers, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor as New England's clear top 4 WRs.

Update: NFL Network's Mike Giardi reports that Thornton is expected to miss "around 8 weeks."

Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald this week led his list of potential "breakout" Patriots for 2021 with WR Jakobi Meyers. Callahan points to the "only" potential hurdles for Meyers being injury or "dominant summers from Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne," whom New England paid up for in free agency. "But those free-agent additions undoubtedly saw what everyone else did at OTAs and minicamp this spring: Meyers was the best receiver on the field," Callahan writes. We've certainly read other similar offseason buzz for Meyers, who claimed 28% of Patriots targets from Week 7 on last season. At WR68 in current FFPC best-ball drafting and a mid-13th round price on Underdog, Meyers at least looks worth some shots in your drafts. We'll see how things go for him and the rest of the Pats offense through training camp and preseason. Mac Jones taking over for Cam Newton at QB would also likely be good for Meyers' target volume.