How does Trey Lance affect the 49ers’ fantasy fortunes?

As a general rule of thumb, nobody cares who is on your fantasy team. But as any good fantasy football player will tell you, it’s never too early to start your research on the players that will be on that team in the coming year. Due to the inconsistent quarterback play throughout most of Kyle Shanahan’s tenure with the 49ers, George Kittle was the only reliable week-in and week-out fantasy player. Now that Trey Lance will become the starting quarterback sooner rather than later, how has the outlook for the rest of the offense changed?

Michelle Magdziuk took a very early peek at what could be in store for the 49ers’ outside receivers in today’s Niners Nation podcast.

“I don’t love it for the wide receivers because Trey Lance is going to take off and run more. There’s going to be less passing. I don’t love it for Deebo Samuel especially who has a shorter average depth of target and then gets most of his yards after the catch. That’s just not Trey Lance’s game, he likes to throw it deep. Maybe that changes with Kyle Shanahan. I would like to see Brandon Aiyuk used deeper down the field, so it could be good for him.”

The possibility of continuing to let Deebo and Brandon Aiyuk maximize their skills after the catch while also taking advantage of Lance’s ability to throw the deep ball makes San Francisco one of the more unpredictable offenses in 2021.

As far as the ground game, the 49ers will be integrating Trey Lance’s mobility into the offense and power runs with third-round pick Trey Sermon.

“Yes, he ran a 4.61 at his pro day, which is totally slower than what Kyle Shanahan is used to, but all of his other tests were elite. Ten yard split, which shows the burst that he has, 94th percentile. His vertical jump, 81st percentile, which is another way to show that burst. Broad jump, 89th percentile. The three-cone, 85th percentile. He’s an athletic dude, he just doesn’t have that home run speed.”

Since he arrived in 2017, Kyle Shanahan has slowly been building a position-less offense. The dream scenario for the 49ers is an offense where any skill player can line up anywhere, on any down. That kind of versatility combined with Shanahan’s creative play-calling would be a nightmare for opposing defenses.

To hear more about the fantasy outlook for this season, be sure to check out today’s Niners Nation Podcast below or anywhere you get your pods. Please be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating and a review.

Other thoughts in today’s episode

• One area where Trey Lance is ready to contribute right away
• Why the 49ers had the best draft class in the division