Fantasy Football Week 9: 49ers Defense All The Way

One of the more under-appreciated aspects of fantasy football is the team defense. The 49ers defense has been dominant both in real life and in fantasy football. The aggressive nature of the defense provides the offense with more short fields thanks to turnovers and earlier forced punts. It also benefits you in fantasy football with sacks and turnovers. It really is win-win.

The 49ers special teams has been huge this year, but you could make a reasonable argument that the 49ers defense provides a key part of that in forcing more and more three and outs. This defense is less inclined to go into the bend but don't break model that we saw under Greg Manusky. Or you could make the argument that Manusky's defenses broke a little bit more frequently and Fangio's defenses do a bit of bending but not quite breaking. Either way, this 49ers defense/special teams is an excellent fantasy weapon.

The rest of the 49ers outside of Frank Gore are tough to figure out. Even Vernon Davis has hit a bit of a wall in the current Greg Roman/Jim Harbaugh offense. We have heard some complaints about getting the ball, so it is entirely possible he suddenly blows up. But the 49ers offense will remain a mystery for fantasy purposes. As long as they keep winning I am not particularly concerned, but it is still worth noting.