• Jordan Mason shines before injury: San Francisco 49ers The leading running back averaged 8.1 yards per carry but missed more than half the game with a shoulder injury.
• Brighter days ahead Kenneth Walker III: He’s been held to under 40 yards in each of the last two weeks, but the increased role suggests his ceiling going forward will be higher than last season.
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PFF’s fantasy football profile focuses on player usage and statistics, and compiles all the important information you need to succeed in fantasy football in 2024.
San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks
- George Kittle: 5 receptions, 58 yards, 2 touchdowns
- Deebo Samuel: 3 receptions, 102 yards, 1 touchdown, 4 carries, 15 rushing yards.
Monitor Jordan Masonhealth: Mason suffered a shoulder injury midway through the second quarter.
Mason started the game well. He was on the field on 17 of a possible 21 plays and rushed eight times for 65 yards, including a 38-yard run. He left the game and was immediately declared questionable as he went for X-rays. He was spotted on the sideline again before halftime, but the 49ers did not recover the ball.
He returned to the game in the second half, running nine yards and immediately returning to the sideline. He remained on the sidelines wearing pads and a helmet for the rest of the game, but never returned to the field. Since Mason’s initial departure, four players have played snaps as the primary running back. Isaac Gerendo was the main one at that time Patrick Taylor And Deebo Samuel mixed. Kyle Juszczyk used as a third defender throughout the game.
Guerendo had most of the opportunities initially but could have been more effective, leading the team to switch to Taylor for much of the fourth quarter. Taylor was equally ineffective, leading to Guerendeau returning for the final two minutes, where he ran 76 yards to help end the game.
If Mason misses time, expect Guerendo to become the primary defender, but he will only have to receive about two-thirds of Mason’s workload. Gerendo may not want to include fantasy starters in this role, given the 49ers playing Kansas City Chiefs next week.
Kenneth Walker IIIthe role is expanding: Walker is playing more snaps than last season, which should ultimately lead to more fantasy points.
It’s been a rough two weeks for Walker in the run game after he didn’t see good volume last week and hasn’t been very effective this week. However, based on how Walker was used, there should be brighter days ahead.
Teams often use their third-down running backs differently if they have them. On third-and-1 it’s often the running back, running back, and on third-and-6-plus it’s often the running back on third down. The two to five yard range is usually a gray area. Last season, Walker played 23.6% of those games, ignoring two games he missed and one game he left early. In the first two weeks of this season, that number increased to 42.9%. Since returning from injury last week, he has taken 10 of those 11 snaps. In those 10 games, he caught three passes for 12 yards.
Walker also made plays in the passing game late in the game as Seattle tried to make up ground. Last week he set his career high with seven receptions, and this week he broke his record again with eight receptions.
Zach Charbonnet now only plays in third-and-6 plus situations and only takes a few snaps early. While it’s not exactly a special role for Walker, it’s about as good as it gets for a running back. He is candidate with low purchase price because he should be one of the top fantasy running backs for the rest of the season.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Both Deebo Samuel Sr. And Tyler Lockett left the game briefly with an injury, but neither missed much playing time.
- 49ers backup wide receivers Chris Conley And Jacob Cowing missed week five due to injury. Both were active in this game and were the fourth and fifth receivers on the depth chart, respectively.
- 49ers tight end Braden Willis was promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster yesterday but remained healthy and inactive.
- During the pre-game show on Amazon, Albert Breer reported that the 49ers’ first-round rookie Ricky Pearsall will return to training next week. Pearsall is currently on list of non-football injuries after he was shot in late August.
- The Seahawks decided to only have five active receivers, allowing young tree healthy inactive for the first time this season. Young didn’t play much on offense, but had 97 hits on special teams through the first five weeks, fifth-most in Seattle.
- The Seahawks started the game in running order with Jake Bobo And Jackson Smith-Njigba at wide receiver. This was only the second game for DK MetcalfA career in which he played but did not begin.
- Second week in a row Noah Fant played in more than 60% of his 12 snaps, with most of his 11 snaps coming in passing situations. He’s either an injured Seahawks wide receiver, a long way from being someone worth including in fantasy leagues, or multiple injuries to other teams’ tight ends to keep him from being included in the lineup.
Notes on the table
- Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. These plays have been removed from the other three indicators.
- Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely mismatch would be due to a clear throw where the NFL can pass the target to the nearest receiver but this data cannot.
- Carries only happen in well-thought-out pranks. Quarterback scrambles do not count toward total carries in the game.
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