Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
NFL Network analyst Adam Rank knows where he stands with the Niner Faithful and happily owns it. He probably shouldn't, however, go on air and request that San Francisco 49ers running back
Jeff Wilson Jr. stops doing his job.
It's probably important to note that Rank is a fantasy football analyst, and his request comes on behalf of his fantasy teams.
Rank joined Mark Willard on KNBR Wednesday night and was answering a fan's question about which running backs to play on his fantasy team when Wilson's name popped into the response.
The question, by the way, involved 49ers running back Matt Breida.
"I do like Matt Breida, as well," Rank told the fan, who started the conversation by bashing the analysts 3-13 49ers record prediction. "I think that Matt B. and Raheem (Mostert), I think that two-headed monster is going to be — as long as like — stop giving it to Jeff Wilson.
"Like, okay, you've proven your point, Kyle Shanahan. You want to carry on the family tradition of Shanahanighans (I really hope I spelled that correctly)."
Willard warned Rank that Wilson was coming on the show the next night.
"Listen, I'm proud of him for making it to the NFL," Rank jokingly continued. "Stop ruining my fantasy teams, that's all. Like, I don't think it's that rude. You're getting paid regardless. Why do you need to take all these touchdowns? I don't think that's a terrible thing to ask."
Willard told Rank that he planned to play that portion of the conversation for Wilson and let the running back respond.
"Hold on, let him know that I think he's a nice person," Rank added.
So, some background before we continue. Breida rushed for 121 yards on 12 carries this past weekend against the Cincinnati Bengals. I'll wait while you do the math.
Correct, that is 10.1 yards per carry.
Mostert added 83 rushing yards for a very respectable 6.4 yards per carry. Neither got into the end zone, though.
Wilson, however, rushed for 34 yards and got into the end zone twice, upsetting any fantasy team owners who may have had Breida or Mostert on their roster. That may have included Rank.
Wilson admitted that he doesn't pay too much attention to fantasy sports, but he's heard of Rank. Willard kept his promise and played the analyst's comments from the night before. How did the 49ers running back respond?
"Just stay tuned," Wilson said. "That's all I can say. Just stay tuned, you know?"
Willard asked if Wilson is the 49ers' red-zone guy now.
"That I don't know," Wilson answered. "Like I said, I'll just sit back and whenever there's a time where my number's call, I'll go in. I don't know any kind of parts or increments I have in the game plan. I just stay ready."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Wilson below.
The New Orleans Saints handed the San Francisco 49ers several opportunities to steal a road win against a heavily-favored opponent. Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers offense, however, seemed uninterested. San Francisco committed four turnovers, including two interceptions thrown by quarterback Nick Mullens, on the way to a 27-13 defeat.
"As a whole, a bright spot is I thought our guys were fighting their ass off," head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters after the game. "There's no moral victories here, but I knew there was a big challenge going in. I'm sick at how hard they fought and that we had a chance to win that game, and I think it really came down to
Maybe the San Francisco 49ers will consider replacing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in next year's draft, or at least finding someone to groom behind him. According to Matt Miller of Bleacher Report, the team is reportedly "investing serious time" in evaluating the upcoming rookie class of passers.
"Speaking of quarterbacks, rumors around the scouting community indicate the San Francisco 49ers are investing serious time and resources into scouting signal-callers," Miller wrote in his recent scouting report feature for Bleacher Report.
Garoppolo has two years remaining on his contract after this season. However, the
Steve Young loves his BYU Cougars. So, naturally, he's having a lot of fun watching quarterback Zach Wilson, who is having an impressive season and appears to be on a collision course with the first round of next year's draft.
The undefeated Cougars rank No. 8 on the AP Top 25, and Wilson has completed 74.7 percent of his passes for 2,511 yards with 21 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He's an intriguing prospect, especially for the San Francisco 49ers, who might be in the market for a quarterback.
"The kid is a really good player," Young said Wednesday on KNBR's Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks show. "I mean, I'm not going to say he's Patrick Mahomes, but I'm saying he plays like Patrick Mahomes. There's no throw he can't make, and he's just intuitive
