Niner Noise
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Fantasy football: Early stock watch for 49ers roster in 2018

By Peter Panacy

SANTA CLARA, CA - NOVEMBER 05: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers warms up prior to their game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium on November 5, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA - NOVEMBER 05: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers warms up prior to their game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium on November 5, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 31: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers looks to pass during the first half of a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 31, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 31: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers looks to pass during the first half of a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 31, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

With fantasy football still a ways away, Niner Noise takes a look at options on the 49ers roster heading into 2018 in this early stock-watch piece. Who should rise or fall?

It’s never too early to start thinking about fantasy football, and the San Francisco 49ers may actually have some intriguing options heading into the 2018 season.

This wasn’t exactly the case for 2016 and most of 2017, unless you were trying to fill out the very bottom of your roster, account for an injury or cover a bye week.

This season, though, things appear to be different. Especially after the Niners inked quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for the next five years on the NFL’s biggest contract ever. San Francisco’s offense, under head coach Kyle Shanahan, went from a bottom-of-the-barrel group to one of the more prolific units over the final five games of 2017.

And if you don’t believe that, just check out these splits from our own Chris Wilson:

Effective offenses mean good things for skill-position players. And if you own those players in your fantasy football leagues, it means good things for you too.

Especially if you subscribe to the notion to draft for the offense, not just the player himself.

With all this in mind, Niner Noise takes an early fantasy football stock watch heading into the 2018 season. There’s a lot left to be determined (free agency, the NFL Draft, etc.). But you can get a jump on your possible Niners targets for your fantasy draft this summer by seeing who’s rising and falling.

Starting with the obvious, Garoppolo.