QB

Alex Smith

(+) Alex was a top overall pick (2005) and is just now starting to get comfortable with the pressures and speed of the NFL
(+) He has three of the most electric players in the game around him with Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, and Michael Crabtree
(+) Alex will enjoy the fruits of the 9th easiest pass schedule this season
(+) OC Jimmy Raye was well above the league average for calling passing plays last year… and this was on an 8-8 team with a decent running attack
(–) San Fran has an abysmal line for Pass Protection.  Although they drafted two 1st-round linemen this past year, they are rookies, so the line will need some time to gel
(–) Smith has really struggled to be a serviceable starter, so upside potential should be tempered

RB

Frank Gore

(+) Has fresh legs from the lack of wear and tear over the past few years (260, 240, and 229 carries from 2007-2009)
(+) Has the easiest rush schedule in the league
(+) The 49ers have already stated that they plan to rush the ball more this year
(+) San Fran drafted heavily along the offensive line
(+) The 49ers put him in a position last year where he was able to put up the most TDs he’s had in his career (13 total, previous high was 9)
(–) His carries have decreased each year for the past four seasons
(–) Has missed 1 or 2 games in four of his five years in the league

Glen Coffee

(+) Frank Gore cannot stay healthy… he has missed 7 games (8 if you include a one-carry performance) over his 5-year career
(+) Michael Robinson (dud) and Anthony Dixon (rookie) are the other backups to compete with
(–) Coffee did very little in a starting role last year; in the three games Gore was hurt, Coffee was 61-173 (2.8 YPC) with 0 TDs – YUCK!!!

Anthony Dixon

(+) Dixon is a huge, powerful back that rarely goes down on first contact
(+) Though a rookie, Anthony could possibly end up as the handcuff to Frank Gore and will likely serve as the 49ers red-zone option immediately
(+) He’s a touchdown machine who played very well against elite competition in the SEC
(+) Is an adept blocker and despite his size, possesses good hands out of the backfield
(–) Doesn’t have very good speed isn’t really a threat to break off the big one
(–) Had a bit of a fumbling problem in college
(–) The 49ers haven’t been much of a running offense of late, though that may change in 2010

WR

Michael Crabtree

(+) Simply has the “look” of someone who will be special
(+) San Fran re-worked their offensive scheme to maximize his strengths
(+) Like Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, and Megatron, when the ball is in the air, you know Crabtree will come down with it
(+) Even though he held out, he proved he’s not a poor locker-room teammate
(–) The QB position, particularly Alex Smith, is still an unknown factor
(–) The 49ers are more of a run-first team under OC Jimmy Raye
(–) The guy on the other side of the field is either Josh Morgan or Ted Ginn Jr. (although Vernon Davis is a beast)

Josh Morgan

(+) San Fran has the 9th easiest pass schedule
(+) Teams will be game planning to take away Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree, so Morgan should enjoy some softer coverages
(+) This will be Morgan’s third season in the league, so he should be getting a bit more comfortable with the NFL game
(+) Josh’s best 6+ catch performances last year were in weeks 12, 13, and 15, while 2 of his 3 TDs were also in these weeks
(–) The former 6th-round draft pick lacks the total package to become a prolific WR – low upside
(–) He’ll be fighting for the football with super-talents like Crabtree, Davis, and Gore

Tony Ginn Jr.

TE

Vernon Davis

(+) Looks like Vernon has finally outgrown his “Jane” phase and become Tarzan
(+) He’s coming off of the best fantasy season for a tight end over the past decade
(+) Davis had the 3rd most targets for tight ends in the league last year
(+) OC Jimmy Raye loves him some tight end action
(–) One season does not make a career, and he still has a suspect Alex Smith throwing to him
(–) Singletary still has his doubts
(–) 49ers could be moving to a more run-based offense this year

-  The San Francisco 49ers began the 2009 season with interim head coach Mike Singletary now installed as the new head coach
-  Shaun Hill started the season as the teams QB until the bye in week 6 then was replaced by former number 1 pick Alex Smith
-  The team was expected to challenge Arizona for the NFC west crown but ended up finishing 8-8
-  Scored 330 points while allowing 281

2009 Total Points Rank:           25th (84 tot pts)
2009 Average/Game Rank:     30th (6.0 pts/gm)

FR=Fumbles Recoverd, PA=Points Allowed, FP Rank=Fantasy Points Rank, FP/G=Fantasy Points per Game

2010 49ers Defensive Outlook... 

How can you not love anything with Defense and Mike Singletary tied together?   Throw in Patrick Willis at LB and we’re more than sold.  Last year this unit threw down the QB 44 times (tied for 3^rd in the league) and plundered 33 turnovers.  They took 3 of those TO’s to the house which helped put them at 4^th overall in Fantasy Defenses last season.  We’re firm believers this team is on the rise, so we expect more of the same, and the best news is, they get to face Rams rookie Bradford, unproven Matt Leinart, and aging Matt Hasselbeck twice each this year.  That’s a whole lot headaches for your opponents this year if you’re throwing a SF D in your lineup every Sunday.

-  Patrick Willis led the team with 152 tackles, Dashon Goldson had 94
-  The 49ers had 44 sacks last season
-  Leading sacker was Manny Lawson with 6.5
-  How can the team build around Willis and make the defense stronger??
-  Dashon Goldson led the team with 4 INTs
-  Team forced 23 fumbles
-  Team forced a total of 41 turnovers

Team PYRO is hyper about Offensive Lines!  Understanding who will be blocking for the players on your roster is vital to your teams Fantasy success.  We take many factors into account when we rank these units, including weight, height, starts together as a unit, starts per year played, rushing average, sacks allowed, draft position, contract situation, pro bowl/all pro honors, Adjusted Line Yardage (ALY) and Adjusted Sack Rate (stats found at the link below).  O-Line Rank is one more piece of the puzzle that directs us towards delivering you a Fantasy Football Championship. 

The fantasy lifeblood of the players sitting on your roster boils down to one EXTREMELY important stat.  Drum Roll please……………………………  ATTEMPTS!!!!  Ahhhh, there, we said it.  Before you can make a play, you gotta have the pill in your hands.  It’s pretty simple really, in the immortal words of the maligned Keyshawn Johnson… “Just give me the damn ball”.  There is no “I” in the word “team”, but don’t fool yourself, it’s in the word rotisserie twice. 

For the QB, it’s Pass Attempts, for the RB, it’s Carries, and for the WR and TE, it’s Targets.  If you look at the players in the league who are amassing large quantities of points, they are the ones who are seeing the rock come their way the most often.  Sure, you have to be good enough to do something with the p-skin when you get it, but never forget, you can’t make a play until you have the pill in your hands. 

The PYRO Offensive scheme charts aim to deliver you perhaps the most important information you could attain before and after draft day; Will my player get the chances they need to put out or will they be shut out?  It really boils down to what the offensive game plan on Sunday is.  These charts should provide some perspective on which teams are going to live by land and which are going to live by air. 

By Air

-  Alex Smith will not have to compete for the starting position this year as he is already slated
        to be the teams starting QB
-  Smith threw for 2350 yards in 11 games
-  Vernon Davis finally used his superhuman combine stats to produce on the field grabbing a
        TE record 13 TDs
-  Michael Crabtree signed with the team late but will be with the team starting week 1 and he
        should have a good season
-  Josh Morgan will also provide another solid target for Smith

By Land

-  The 49ers ranked 25th in team rushing yards with 1600 yards on the ground in ‘09
-  Frank Gore led the team in rushing with 1120 yards on 229 carries
-  Glen Coffee served as the teams second back but only averaged 2.7 yards per carry

RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number you see is Red Zone Touches (a pass attempt, a carry, or a target inside the 20 yard line).  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

% of Teams RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number is the players percentage of touches cut out against the total number of the Teams Red Zone plays called.  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.  So, if Thomas Jones received a touch in 45 percent of the Jets Red Zone calls last year, and Knowshon Moreno received a touch in 38 percent of all the Broncos plays last year, Jones would be ranked higher at his position than Moreno would be.

RZ TD Success Rate (Position Rank) = The first number is the percentage of which an individual player was able to score a TD against his total number of touches.   The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

Why Should I look at this Chart?

We couldn’t possibly take up a whole minute of your valuable fantasy football research time babbling about the importance of Attempts for your team and then leave out Red Zone Tendencies.

Yep, same drill with these charts, only a lot more important if scoring TD’s is what you’re leagues about.  The PYRO Red Zone Tendencies chart delivers a touchdown focused microcosm of the Offensive Scheme section.

To score a TD, your player needs a touch (pass att, carry, or target), and when they get a touch inside the 20, great things can happen for your Fantasy teams total points line.

It’s really easy, touches are King and converting a touch in the red is Fantasy Gold.

PYRO 2010 49er Leaders in the Red Zone...

1. Frank Gore
2. Anthony Dixon
3. Michael Crabtree
4. Vernon Davis
5. Josh Morgan

Grade* = Team PYRO took this number directly from NFL.COM - not a number devised here by us, you know, your friends who don’t sleep?  In other words, proceed with caution knowing the source, but we thought it was at least a worthy effort and could help you gauge just how solid the teams draft was.  We hope it helps, we think it will.

Draft Bits...

Coffee was frightfully bad last year in Gore’s absence.  San Fran grabbed Ant Dixon late.  Competition is a good thing for sure, but now Coffee has retired and Coach Samurai Mike has placed Dixon as the primary backup.  Frank Gore gets hurt, and if Dixon can produce, he’s a nice sleeper with San Fran’s rush schedule.

Team PYRO considers our Strength of Schedule data an essential part of building you a Fantasy Championship.  This data is integral in helping us rank our players each year.  So far, so good.  We go to GREAT lengths to deliver you this PYRO nugget and we know nobody else in the industry is putting forth this type of effort, which puts you at a great advantage if you have been using us as your fantasy football research outlet.  Our SoS considers three factors when determining rankings for schedules for the upcoming year:

1) 75% weight is applied to the strength of defense from the previous season.  This is determined by fantasy points given up (run and pass).  Easy right? Here's where Team Pyro goes deep: before we get to that number, we factor in the quality of teams that these defenses had to face (essentially, a strength-of-schedule for the prior season).

 
2) 20% weight is applied to Free-Agent, Trade, and Injury Returns that will help or hurt the team for the current year.  We rank each players impact to their former team (2008), sum it all up, and then rank each team accordingly.

3) 5% weight is applied to the NFL drafts incoming rookie impact.  It's a challenge to successfully gauge a rookie's effectiveness (too many Jamarcus Russells out there) which is why we valued it so low.  Some teams not only drafted highly touted defensemen this year, but will be immediately filling deficient positions from '09 with rookies, and usually, anything is an upgrade when you are starting a rookie.

Chart Key =

Ranking:  1=easiest  32=toughest

QB's, WR's, and TE's

(INDY) Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark have the EASIEST passing schedule in 2010

(BALT) Joe Flacco, Anquan Boldin, and Todd Heap have the HARDEST passing schedule in 2010

RB's

(SF) Frank Gore has the EASIEST rushing schedule in 2010

(MIA) Ronnie Brown has the HARDEST rushing schedule in 2010

June 14, 2010

Signed RB Anthony Dixon to a four-year contract.

June 8, 2010

Traded WR Isaac Bruce to St. Louis Rams.

May 20, 2010

Promoted Trent Baalke to vice president of player personnel. Named Joel Patten director of college scouting.

May 5, 2010

Agreed to terms with LB Patrick Willis on a five-year contract extension through the 2016 season.

May 4, 2010

Agreed to terms with LB Patrick Willis on a five-year contract extension through the 2016 season.

April 27, 2010

Signed LB Travis LaBoy to a one-year contract. Agreed to terms with LB Mike Balogun LB, CB Tramaine Brock, QB Jarrett Brown, WR Shay Hodge, LB Keaton Kristick, WR Scott Long, S Christopher Maragos, WR Jared Perry, CB Patrick Stoudamire and CB-S Leroy Vann.

April 13, 2010

Signed OL David Baas to a one-year contract.

April 3, 2010

Signed LB Ahmad Brooks to a two-year contract.

March 30, 2010

Signed PK Shane Andrus to a one-year contract.

March 23, 2010

Re-signed OL Barry Sims to a one-year contract.

March 17, 2010

Signed CB Karl Paymah to a one-year contract.

March 15, 2010

Signed QB David Carr to a two-year contract. Traded QB Shaun Hill to Detroit for an undisclosed 2011 draft pick.

February 4, 2010

Named Ray Brown assistant offensive line coach.

January 22, 2010

Signed G Brian De La Puente to a future contract.

January 21, 2010

Named Mike Solari offensive line coach.

January 18, 2010

Named Kurt Schottenheimer special teams coordinator.

January 12, 2010

Signed FB Jehuu Caulcrick to a future contract.

January 11, 2010

Signed TE Joe Jon Finley to a reserve-future contract.