Fantasy Football: An early look at 49ers options in 2017

Oct 2, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde (28) celebrates after running in a touchdown during the second quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde (28) celebrates after running in a touchdown during the second quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /
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October 6, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde (28) runs against Arizona Cardinals cornerback Marcus Cooper (41) during the third quarter at Levi’s Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the 49ers 33-21. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
October 6, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde (28) runs against Arizona Cardinals cornerback Marcus Cooper (41) during the third quarter at Levi’s Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the 49ers 33-21. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

The fantasy football season isn’t far away, and the San Francisco 49ers may actually offer some enticing pickups for team owners heading into the 2017 season. Let’s look at a few choices.

It’s almost time for fantasy football players to dust off their cheat sheets and start planning ahead for the 2017 season.

A year ago, the San Francisco 49ers would have offered few — if any — legitimate fantasy options.

That’s what you get when the team goes 2-14 and posts the 27th-best scoring offense and a historically bad defense.

San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers /

San Francisco 49ers

All that changes this year. Head coach Kyle Shanahan is now on board, and he’s known for scheming his players to get open. That means stats, and stats mean fantasy points for you if you want to take the gamble on San Francisco players.

The Niners defense may also not be a terrible option in some favorable matchups (there aren’t many) in 2017. General manager stocked up on defense during the NFL Draft, so we can expect anything better than the historically bad group seen a year ago.

You probably won’t think about San Francisco’s defense this season, so let’s focus on the offense for now.

In this slideshow, we’ll provide a brief breakdown on some legitimate fantasy football pickups you might want to target on draft day.