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Fantasy Football: Early San Francisco 49ers Stock Watch for 2016

By Peter Panacy

Nov 29, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Torrey Smith (82) during a player injury against the Arizona Cardinals during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 29, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Torrey Smith (82) during a player injury against the Arizona Cardinals during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 8, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert (2) and quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) warm up before the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 8, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert (2) and quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) warm up before the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

Stock Neutral: Quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick & Blaine Gabbert

So who’s starting under center for the 49ers in 2016?

Well, we don’t know. Really, we have no clue. Could it be former starter Colin Kaepernick? Maybe he’s a beneficiary of head coach Chip Kelly’s offensive abilities. Or will former backup, turned starter Blaine Gabbert wind up winning over the day?

The good news here is that both quarterbacks will push each other during training camp and the preseason. And that may be just what the winner of this camp competition needs to produce effectively this year.

Both quarterbacks have their merits for playing in a Kelly-led offense. Yet both have their setbacks as well. Kelly prizes accuracy over any other traits, so a slight edge may go to Gabbert in this regard.

Yet Kaepernick’s other intangibles are far too good to overlook. Despite Kap’s 2015 woes, he’s still capable of beating you with his legs and ripping off significant fantasy points on the ground.

The only concern is whether or not his recent poor passing performances will be detrimental to his fantasy value.

Regardless, neither Kaepernick or Gabbert should be seen as starting-tier quarterbacks in your fantasy league unless it’s a backup option or one of them suddenly starts blowing up the fantasy charts. And we’re far too away from being able to adequately predict that.

Kaepernick, over Gabbert, may be worth eyeballing in the very late stages of your fantasy draft. Keep an eye on which unit Kap lines up with during the preseason as that will be a gauge of his pending value.

Fantasy Projection: Kaepernick has a slight edge over Gabbert, based on his ground potential alone, but this doesn’t mean he’s worth anything more than a very-late round flier in deeper leagues. But you could do worse than stash him away early with the hopes of Kap turning his career around under Kelly.

Next: 49ers Sleepers