The 49ers haven't had a running back or wide receiver that was a no-doubt early-round draft pick in fantasy football since the Frank Gore days, and for good reason. Last year, Jeff Wilson Jr. was the team's best running back in overall fantasy production, as the RB26. Brandon Aiyuk was the top wide receiver, as WR33. In 2019, Raheem Mostert was RB20 and Deebo Samuel was WR26. In 2018, Matt Breida was RB24 whereas the top wide receiver was... Dante Pettis, as WR61. You get the idea.
But in 2021, five-time Pro Bowler Kyle Juszczyk thinks that there could be a change to that pattern. A Harvard grad, a leader on the 49ers, and a well-versed fantasy player in himself... he seems like a guy with advice that you can trust, no? Juice joined the "Fantasy Footballers" podcast, available on Audacy, to talk all things 49ers and fantasy football.
"You talk about predictability in fantasy football, and I feel like Kyle (Shanahan) plays both sides of that," Juszczyk said. "Because we'll use so many different running backs in the season, or we spread the ball out so much. Sometimes, our offense is pretty hard to predict who's gonna get the ball.
"But, you know what, I think that Raheem Mostert is really gonna surprise people and I know it's been a few years since we've... had one of those top fantasy guys that you know that you're gonna take in your first one, two or three rounds. You could argue Kittle definitely has been up there, but outside of that we really haven't had a wide receiver or running back that you really talk about up there at the top of the draft."
Enter the 2021 hype surrounding Raheem Mostert, and you might find yourself wanting to take a strong look his way. After all, the 49ers no longer have Jerick McKinnon or Tevin Coleman on their roster, though McKinnon is still a free agent. Mostert only played in eight games last season, though he was largely productive in each outing, totaling 677 yards from scrimmage and leading the backfield with 5.0 yards per carry. Of all running backs in the league with at least 200 rushing attempts since 2018, Mostert sits at the very top of the list with 5.65 yards per carry (via Stathead).
And for that reason, the 49ers want to use him... why wouldn't they?
"I think Raheem Mostert's gonna be a guy that, at the end of the season, you might've wished that you had gone up there and spent a little more draft capital to get him," Juszczyk said. "Because I can tell you firsthand what big plans we have for him. And at the end of last season when he came back and was healthy, we genuinely thought that with, like, six games left that we could still get him to 1,000 yards, just based on what he had done earlier in the season and what we had seen on the practice field.
"This guy is just absolutely insane in the open field, extremely explosive. Nobody can catch him. It's ridiculous. Like, the angles these safeties try to take on him, and he still will leave them in the dust. I think there's still a lot in front of Raheem and I think a big year's coming for him."
We know Mostert's explosive, but can he stay healthy and deliver a big year like Juice is suggesting? If you're willing to take the chance in this year's fantasy draft, the payoff could be huge.
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