Let’s talk fantasy
If you were looking to bank on the San Francisco 49ers 2023 draft class in fantasy football, you might be left a bit disappointed and in last place in your league. For all the money positions, their veterans are going to get snapped up in the first round while the rookies are fighting for playing time. With Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel running the wide receivers for instance, it’s hard to justify putting Ronnie Bell on your roster unless disaster strikes.
That said, do you see any potential from the picks? Better what do you see them doing in 2023 and beyond?
I do more traditional fantasy leagues so defensive players are always a bit more foreign to me. I wonder if Ji’Ayir Brown could be a good bench player in case he blows up in a few weeks to be the starter. I also am concerned if Robert Beal Jr. could be a good stash for dynasty leagues if they can develop him as a rookie.
But really, let’s just get to the one position you could take in the last round of your draft and not get laughed at: Kickers.
And really, I just wanted another reason to talk about kickers and Jake Moody. And yes, Jake Moody is making my fantasy team. To be fair, I may do my usual reach of Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker to be safe, but I have no problem using my last pick on Moody and stashing him for the bye week with Tucker. Since the race for Tucker is mostly a group of us in our league playing chicken until someone does it, I wouldn’t mind banking on him there either.
As far as dynasty leagues, I wouldn’t mind picking up Ronnie Bell just to stash away and see how this Brandon Aiyuk drama shakes out for his [Aiyuk’s] contract. The 49ers will have some salary cap decisions to make in the future and I wonder if they can afford keeping Aiyuk. If that’s the case, Bell could be a good long term decision in a year or two if you were willing to give up the roster spot. That seems like quite a reach for Bell, but I’ve seen stranger things in fantasy.
Cameron Latu is also another player I think may be someone that could prove to be quite useful. I keep getting Jimmy Graham vibes from his tape, though I’m not exactly sure why. While George Kittle is the People’s Tight End, Willis could help take some of the workload off him and I wonder if the 49ers plan on using him more like a wide receiver.
I keep coming back to Jake Moody though. I think he could be a good pickup as far as kickers is concerned. Everyone is going to look for Justin Tucker and the more reliable legs, but Moody could be a steal at the end of the draft. My league has kickers a bit more important so taking a kicker a bit earlier isn’t as looked down on as standard leagues, but with Moody I get the feeling I could snatch him in the last round of my draft and he’d be deadly.
What draft picks do you see being fantasy contributors? Either in 2023 or beyond?