Yahoo has been compiling a variety of lists discussing everything from the 11 coolest helmets in pro football history to nnon-football athletes who would excel in the NFL. The one of interest ot 49ers fans is their "Juggernaut Index." According to Yahoo, the Juggernaut Index is:
...our annual attempt to rank every NFL team for fantasy purposes. We're not concerned with real-life wins and losses here. No, here we just care about imaginary winning. If an NFL team gains lots of yardage, limits turnovers, and scores when they reach the red zone, then you'll want to own their skill position players in fantasy leagues. You'll find those teams at the top of the Juggernaut Index. We began at No. 32, the worst of the worst, and we're working our way to the elite fantasy offenses.
These rankings rely on hard, incontrovertible math. There are algorithms at work. This stuff is peer-reviewed. Seasons are simulated. You can't argue with science, so don't even try...
Considering how awful the 49ers were last year and the fact that many people think they'll be pretty bad this year, it's no surprising that they were ranked #30 in the index. You can sense the tone of the article pretty quickly:
Maybe your opinion on the Niners is one of those optimist/pessimist things.
An optimistic person might see their glass as half one-third 20 percent no more than 10 percent full. A pessimist would basically just see a big empty cup.
They consider Frank Gore the 10 percent of positive possibilities. In regards to Vernon Davis they said:
Is it possible that this could be Vernon Davis' breakout season? Sure. We all know that he's fast, skilled, and that he was both injured and unhappy last season. He was certainly a disappointment in 2007, yet few observers put much of the blame on Davis himself.
Pro Football Weekly had an important note on him back in March, though:
In regard to Davis’ performance last season, one of his teammates told a team source that he had never seen an NFL starter make so many mistakes.
Pro Football Weekly has made some good points in the past, but they've also thrown stuff outt to see if it sticks. So I'm taking this opinion with a grain of salt.
They state that aside from Frank Gore, "there's just not much here for public leaguers to draft." I guess that leaves the door open to consider Vernon Davis. In ESPN's scoring system, Davis finished 15th among tight ends. Personally Davis is a guy I would take this year to be my #1 tight end just based on his upside. If he struggles there are plenty of guys to grab off the waiver wire.
Aside from this two, it's certainly reasonable to be concerned about 49ers fantasy options. Whomever is selected as the starting QB could be a bye week option depending on who they're playing in a given week. In the coming days I'm going to put together my initial chart of who is worth buying. As training camp gets going we can then adjust the chart accordingly.