Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports
49ers WR Dante Pettis among top 15 in rookie fantasy football ranking
May 8, 2018 at 12:36 PM
•
Videos are auto-populated by an affiliate. This site has no control over the videos that appear above.
Bucky Brooks isn't the only one who believes San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Dante Pettis is capable of a big rookie season. The NFL Network analyst
named Pettis as a rookie receiver who can achieve a 1,000-yard season in 2018.
JJ Zachariason of numberFire, one of many analytics sites that attempts to predict fantasy sports production, recently named Pettis among his
post-draft fantasy football rookie rankings. The ranking factors in the situation in which each player is placed and not just his talent level. Pettis will be part of an offense that will feature quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo throwing the football. After a glimpse of Garoppolo's potential within head coach Kyle Shanahan's system last year, analysts and fans are predicting big things from the quarterback in 2018.
Pettis ranked at No. 15 within numberFire's top-20 list. Below is what Zachariason had to say about the receiver's fantasy football potential with the 49ers:
"Pierre Garçon can be a possession guy, Marquise Goodwin is a field-stretcher, and Trent Taylor can be the slot receiver. Where does Dante Pettis fit in? He didn't play many snaps in the slot in college, per Pro Football Focus, which means he may need to supplant Garçon or Goodwin to get consistent work this year. Garçon is coming off a neck injury, so maybe that's the spot for him, but the path to targets is a little convoluted. The hope is that things develop well for Year 2, and the 49ers don't add much more at the receiver position. Sometimes you've got to trust the draft capital spent (they traded up for Pettis, too) and the coach who made the selection when evaluating a player's potential."
Pettis, who was the fourth receiver selected in last month's draft, is Zachariason's seventh-ranked rookie wide receiver. Both Anthony Miller of the Chicago Bears and Christian Kirk of the Arizona Cardinals, who were each selected within seven spots after Pettis, ranked higher than the 49ers receiver (No. 2 and No. 3 among rookie receivers, respectively). Pettis was previously unranked within numberFire's rookie fantasy football rankings.
The 49ers made Pettis a second-round draft pick (No. 44 overall) out of Washington. Since his junior year in 2016, he recorded 116 receptions for 1,583 yards with 22 touchdowns. As a returner on special teams, Pettis returned an FBS-record nine punts for touchdowns over his collegiate career while averaging 14.2 yards per return. Four of the nine scores came during his senior year.
Following his selection by the 49ers, Pettis was asked how his play as a receiver translates to the NFL.
"I'm hoping to do a lot of different things," he said. "Whether that's taking a deep post, taking the top off of the defense or getting a little screen and breaking a few tackles, making a big play that way or just moving the chains on third down. You know, there's a lot of different things that I feel I can do that I can translate into the NFL."
Zachariason also named 49ers rookie receiver Richie James as a later-round player to target.
H/T to
Patrick Tulini for the find.
Poll
- Is Dante Pettis capable of a big rookie season with the 49ers?
Yes
No
- 407 votes
Facebook Comments
More San Francisco 49ers News
ESPN analyst on Brandon Aiyuk: 49ers shouldn't pay two receivers top dollar
ESPN analyst Matt Miller understands the perspective of San Francisco 49ers fans. After all, he has been a fan of the team since he was a kid. Seeing any of your favorite players leave and put on another uniform is tough.
It's also difficult to pay everyone, and Miller knows that. It's not a formula for successful roster building, including paying two wide receivers top dollar.
The 49ers are trying to negotiate a contract extension with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. The team invested heavily in another receiver, Deebo Samuel, just two years ago. Is allowing each of them to consume a significant chunk of the salary cap feasible for a team that hopes to continue being competitive and win Super Bowls?
"I have to separate the fan part of my brain, who
Could the 49ers trade up in the draft for a top tackle?
The San Francisco 49ers are likely hoping that a top offensive lineman drops to them at No. 31 in the first round of this month's draft. Fans would like to see the team add someone to compete with Colton McKivitz for the right tackle spot and potentially take over for Trent Williams when the future Hall of Famer decides to retire.
Having two studs bookending the offensive line would go a long way in protecting franchise quarterback Brock Purdy. While tackle may be the first-round target, depending on how the first 30 selections play out, San Francisco might have to trade up to get a genuinely impactful
Are these the 49ers' ideal top 2 draft picks?
With the 2024 NFL Draft less than two weeks away, NFL Media draft analyst Chad Reuter recently identified the ideal top two draft picks for each team. The San Francisco 49ers have 10 selections in the upcoming draft, with their first two picks at No. 31 overall and No. 63.
Reuter noted, "I kept some semblance of realism in this process, however, assigning each player only once and making reasonable projections of where prospects may be selected."
Who are the standout picks for the 49ers? Reuter envisions the team addressing both offense and defense with their initial selections. It's widely anticipated that San Francisco will bolster its offensive line with
49ers sign WR Trent Taylor, reuniting with former draft pick
The San Francisco 49ers announced the signing of wide receiver Trent Taylor to a one-year deal, reuniting with the team's former fifth-round draft pick out of Louisiana Tech.
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area was the first to report that the 49ers were discussing a potential reunion with Taylor. The receiver was part of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch's first draft class in 2017 and spent his first four NFL seasons with the team.
The #49ers are talking with free-agent slot receiver/return man
