San Francisco @ Pittsburgh
Team Totals: 49ers 22, Steelers 20
Likely to continue to be deployed as a game manager quarterbacking a balanced-to-run-first team, Brock Purdy averaged just 26.1 pass attempts during his seven wire-to-wire 2022 starts (including playoffs) and has never offered much as a rusher. Purdy is a low-end QB2 bet against Pittsburgh’s talent-rich defensive front featuring T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Cameron Heyward, and Larry Ogunjobi. … Christian McCaffrey averaged 111.3 all-purpose yards and 1.1 TDs over his final 13 games for last year’s 49ers while earning a lofty 20.5% target share on throws from Purdy. Mismatches favoring Pittsburgh’s defense in the trenches suggest McCaffrey will play a major receiving role on quick hitters designed to get the ball out of Purdy’s hands fast. … Elijah Mitchell earned 10.5 touches per regular-season game after McCaffrey’s acquisition from Carolina and banked touch totals of 11 and 14 in two playoff appearances. He’s an elite handcuff.
Predicting the weekly production of George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk will be a season-long adventure, although point guard-style distributor Purdy is the right man for the job. Kittle scored seven touchdowns on only 34 targets from Purdy in 2022 and over the course of last season ranked No. 2 among NFL tight ends in snap rate (91%), No. 5 in receiving yards (765), and No. 2 in TDs (11). Aiyuk led the 49ers in targets (39), catches (27), yards (349), and first-down conversions (17) on Purdy’s throws.
We create the highest-quality NFL content
Our team includes renowned fantasy analysts Evan Silva and Adam Levitan, high-stakes professional DFS players, and specialists who cover niche areas that we believe are important to understand.
We don’t sell lineups or claim to have all of the answers. We do analyze what’s happening in a way that’s digestible and actionable, with a goal of preparing you to make the best decisions possible during the 2024 NFL season.
Read on to learn what’s inside our In-Season NFL subscription.
Full Details! » Already a subscriber? Log In
