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Week 11 is at hand, and it's time to figure out your fantasy football options. We've got start/sit advice below, but don't forget to check out the Niners Nation FanDuel league. It's $5 to enter, and you can win up to $100. And any excuse to beat me and Fooch in fantasy football is a good reason to join!
Must Starts
Anquan Boldin: The target monster could have had a huge day against the Saints, but he couldn't hold on to a few passes. If you have to start a San Francisco receiver then Boldin is your man and my pick for FanDuel this week. He should get another 8 or so targets and finish with respectable WR2 numbers given the absence of Prince Amukamara.
Frank Gore: He isn't done, but it's clear his days among the fantasy relevant are numbered. He remains a safe RB2 play most weeks and the offense may continue to lean on him against one of the rush defenses in the league.
Odell Beckham Jr.: Victor Cruz's replacement looks awfully Cruz-like. ODBJ is the primary passing option and is racking up the targets and yardage no matter the competition. The 49ers will have their hands full trying to keep him contained. If Eli can hold it together he could finish with a top 10 day.
Quality Starts
Colin Kaepernick: From a fantasy perspective, Kaepernick has been lousy over the last three games. The passing yardage is too low and there hasn't been enough rushing to compensate. Russell Wilson was able to run on the Giants, but it also seems Wilson is much more likely to flee the pocket than Kaep. The Giants have routinely been tortured by opposing QBs this season, so at least it's another good scenario for the Bay area QB. 250 yards passing and 2 TDs sounds about right for Kaep this week.
Michael Crabtree: Even with 8 targets it took a 51 yard reception to save Crabs' day. He is involved, but similar to Rueben Randle, he hasn't translated opportunity into production. He is a TD dependent WR3/4 at this point. That is a far cry from preseason projections and I'm ready to send him to waiver pool in every league where I own stock in Crabs. If he shows signs of life against this banged up secondary he might be worth holding onto.
Larry Donnell: After his breakout game in week 4, Donnell has come back down to earth. However, he is still a useful fantasy tight end. With Patrick Willis done for the year the Niners are likely to start giving up more production to tight ends going forward. This makes Donnell a top 10 option this week.
Rashad Jennings: Welcome back Rashad! Now get out there and do your thing against one of the better rush defenses in the league! Normally, Jennings is a top 15 running back, but he may not get his usual workload coming off the knee injury. His role in the passing game will help him keep RB2 value this week.
Rueben Randle: Or as I like to call him, "Michael Crabtree East". He is getting the opportunities to make plays, but he isn't executing. With Beckam Jr. coming on strong, Randle is in danger of losing all those targets and in turn, his fantasy relevancy. He is a bigger receiver, which gave the 49ers problems earlier in the season, so the potential for a touchdown or big play remains relatively high. I'd start him in the WR4 range if I had to...and I might (http://replygif.net/i/1219.
Avoid
Vernon Davis: If you see him, tell Vernon that fantasy land misses him dearly. Sunday, he gets a favorable match-up as the Giants have given up the 7th most points to tight ends this season. This is still a high risk/low reward situation until we see him snap out of this spell.
Stevie Johnson: If we could combine him and Crabtree into one player, we would have 2012 Crabtree all over again. Unfortunately, even though he makes the most of his targets he isn't getting enough snaps to warrant higher than a WR4 rating.
Eli Manning: The other Manning hasn't been horrible this season, but he is still barely startable in traditional formats. The Niners are hurt on defense, but they still rank pretty high on the list of squads you don't want your QB to play. Eli is probably headed towards a 250/2/2 line.