The 49ers are activating Jordan Reed, and he looks like a sneaky solid play tonight. He’s just one of a half dozen players in this game affected by notable developments since we originally wrote up this game on Wednesday morning.
The 49ers won’t have any of their top three wide receivers. Deebo Samuel was already out with a hamstring injury, but because of positive COVID tests, they’ll also be without Brandon Aiyuk and Kendrick Bourne. (Both had over 80 receiving yards on Sunday night). With all of those injuries, the 49ers will be down to Trent Taylor, Richie James, Kevin White and River Cracraft as their four receivers for this game. White and Cracraft are being moved up from the practice squad. We wouldn’t be excited about using any of those guys in a fantasy lineup (maybe Taylor if it’s a huge league and based on PPR scoring).
San Francisco also won’t have George Kittle, and that’s where Jordan Reed starts to get very interesting. He’s being activated off injured reserve, and he should be a prominent part of the passing game – probably their No. 1 option. When Reed replaced Kittle for a Week 2 game at New York, he caught 7 passes and 2 TDs. In general, I’m thinking he looks like kind of a top-5 tight end for Week 9. Seriously.
With all of these receiver injuries, I’m also thinking the 49ers will rely heavily on the run. Green Bay has had problems defending the run, so I’m thinking JaMycal Hasty, while just an unheralded and undrafted rookie free agent, in general looks like a top-15 running back for this week. The last time these teams played, Raheem Mostert ran for over 200 yards, with 4 TDs.
The Packers in this game also has some injury developments. Most notably, they’re hopeful that Aaron Jones will play. Jones is with the team. They’ll see what he looks like in warmups, but it’s looking like he’ll be their starting tailback. Those with Jones will want to check the inactives, but in general, my leaning would be to go ahead and use Jones.
If something goes south with Jones’ calf, the other running back options would be as expected: (Tyler Ervin and Dexter Williams).
Also for Green Bay, Allen Lazard won’t be activated. So it will be Marquez Valdes-Scantling starting opposite Davante Adams.
With all of these changes, I’ve plugged new numbers into our stat projections file. Those can be accessed on the site by clicking on the “Your Stuff” area.
—Ian Allan