San Francisco 49ers vs. Denver Broncos Matchup Breakdown For Fantasy Football Week 4

It may be early, but Denver versus San Francisco is giving off early Super Bowl vibes. No need to have you guess which game’s staying on the main screen Sunday afternoon, but can the offenses live up to a 46.5-point game total?

49ers vs. Broncos Fantasy Football Matchup Breakdown For Week 4

• Spread: Niners -3.0
• Total: 46.5
• Score Prediction (from our NFL Betting Game Model): SF 26, DEN 23

Denver Broncos Fantasy Preview

After watching Bo Nix fall flat against the Chiefs in Week 1 for a whopping 5.4 fantasy points, I worried maybe I hadn’t lent enough credence to that ankle injury suffered on the last snap of Denver’s Divisional playoff matchup. Fast forward to the present day, the former first-rounder’s averaging +17 fantasy points over two starts, against super stiff competition, mind you. Now, the rushing’s still non-existent for now (12-15-1 on the season), but he’s looking crisper every week, and the schedule will eventually soften.

Getting harder and harder to roster, let alone start DERN pass catchers, I get it. Outside of Jaylen Waddle’s monster Week 2 output (8-138-0), not a single Broncos’ wideout cracked  a top-30 weekly finish this year. And not to let their star off the hook, but even Waddle’s been more boom-or-bust than expected, totaling just 7.1 fantasy points in the other contests combined. Brutal stuff.

Stay the course; Waddle’s advanced metrics still rock (26.0% target/route, 1.95 yards/route). As far as the rest go, I’m getting as far away from the inefficient Courtland Sutton as possible while an increase in versatile use for Pat Bryant’s starting to gain my attention — Denver’s scheming up first-read looks, screens, and red zone opportunities for the third-round sophomore.

In healthier seasons, this Bronco backfield might be one to ignore for fantasy purposes … I'm just not sure any of us have that luxury. Between split workloads among the starters and Sean Peyton’s insistence on involving a third RB into the mix, it’s frustrating. In fact, the only DEN RB with a top-24 finish is now-injured rookie Jonah Coleman, whose (10-39-1; 3-19-0) “breakout” ranked 10th in Week 2. Basically, if you’re feeling down on your fantasy RB situation, just know you’re not alone.

• Start: Jaylen Waddle
• Sit: Bo Nix, J.K. Dobbins, Courtland Sutton
• Sleeper: RJ Harvey

San Francisco 49ers Fantasy Preview

If injuries piled up to the ceiling guaranteed that production would have fallen off; San Francisco never got the memo. Kyle Shanahan’s lost an entire WR room already, yet that hasn’t stopped the Niners from outpacing the field in offensive macros by a country mile (7.3 yards/play, 59.5% success, 0.31 EPA/play, 3.6 points/drive). Each of those is intensely impressive on their own, regardless of sample size.

Starts with Brock Purdy, easily one of the best fantasy QB picks on this year’s board. Trailing only Josh Allen in fantasy points/game (27.0), Purdy leads the NFL in passing fantasy points/game (21.9) as well as EPA/dropback (0.62), passer rating (133.1), and just about everything else that matters. Total smash pick and talent elevator — exactly what we want under center.

Optimal fantasy situations extend into the SF pass-catching room, where all these well-designed pass attempts stay centered around the remaining stars. Deebo Samuel, George Kittle (he’s back, baby) and Mike Evans receive all the attention, especially in the end — just the way we like it. Keep an eye on Evans’ status; an injury kept him out of practice this week, though we know he can impact a game if he suits up. Jordan Watkins scored some points after he departed, but it was mostly on broken coverage in a part-time role. Not sure there’s much, if any, ceiling here, but KhaDarel Hodge ran almost every route to close out Sunday. Hey, some of us are in deep enough leagues where we’re actually that desperate …

• Start: Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle
• Sit: Kaelon Black
• Sleeper: KhaDarel Hodge

Next Week's Bold Headline, Today

Denver’s nonexistent run game’s an issue as their defense struggles once again to string together four solid quarters. San Fran stays unbeaten, and while not perfect, they’re still pretty great even in a tough matchup.