Pierre Garcon is signing with the 49ers, and I think that puts him on the fantasy radar. Could be one of the better values at the position.
It’s early to say anything concrete, of course. The 49ers don’t have their quarterback yet.
But Kyle Shanahan is running that offense now, and he has a lengthy history of funneling things through his featured receiver. He’s not a big believer in the decoy philosophy or trying to find the best matchups; he draws up the plays to get it to his top guy.
Shanahan has been the offensive coordinator for nine NFL offenses. Two thirds of those teams put a wide receiver over 1,100 yards.
Garcon has shown he operate in that role. Playing with Shanahan, he caught 113 passes for 1,346 yards with Washington in 2013. That was with lesser quarterbacking – Robert Griffin III struggling in his second year, and Kirk Cousins getting some action as a youngster late in the year.
| KYLE SHANAHAN WIDE RECEIVERS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Player | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 2008 | Hou. | Andre Johnson | 115 | 1,575 | 13.7 | 8 |
| 2009 | Hou. | Andre Johnson | 101 | 1,569 | 15.5 | 9 |
| 2010 | Was. | Santana Moss | 93 | 1,115 | 12.0 | 6 |
| 2011 | Was. | Jabar Gaffney | 68 | 947 | 13.9 | 5 |
| 2012 | Was. | Josh Morgan | 48 | 510 | 10.6 | 3 |
| 2013 | Was. | Pierre Garcon | 113 | 1,346 | 11.9 | 5 |
| 2014 | Clev. | Andrew Hawkins | 63 | 824 | 13.1 | 2 |
| 2015 | Atl. | Julio Jones | 136 | 1,871 | 13.8 | 9 |
| 2016 | Atl. | Julio Jones | 83 | 1,409 | 17.0 | 6 |
Garcon isn’t ideal physically. He’ll turn 31 in August, and he’s lost some speed. Separation will be an issue for him at times. But with wide receivers, there has to be some value placed on having guys who know what they’re doing. Garcon has been in this offense, and in recent years he’s had some of the best hands in the league (the best drop rate in the NFL over the last three seasons).
Shanahan knows him, and thinks Garcon can do it.
This isn’t a flyer-type pick up. Per reports, the 49ers will pay Garcon $16 million in 2017.
If I were walking into a PPR draft today, Garcon would be placed in the top 20-25 wide receivers on my board.
—Ian Allan