Niner Noise takes a look at five sleeper fantasy football wide receivers you’d be able to start right away in 2019, including the San Francisco 49ers’ own, Dante Pettis.
While the NFL has shifted to a pass-first league, fantasy football remains dominated by running backs. Yet with the emergence of dual-back and running-back-by-committee approaches, hitting home runs with your picks on wide receivers is all but essential in securing yourself a fantasy championship.
There are the obvious names, of course. Pittsburgh Steelers wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster took over the No. 1 role from Antonio Brown in 2018, and Brown subsequently found himself with the Oakland Raiders — a risky proposition for fantasy owners, considering the Raiders’ offensive issues of late.
Los Angeles Rams wideouts always look good, and it’s never a bad idea to consider someone like the Houston Texans’ DeAndre Hopkins with a late first-round pick.
That said, you’re going to need to take some gambles on sleeper wideouts in the latter rounds.
The San Francisco 49ers have one such player, second-year wide receiver Dante Pettis, who started off slowly his rookie 2018 season. But his final five games provided numbers indicative of a true No. 1 receiving target.
Let’s start with Pettis, as we break down five sleeper wide receivers you’d get away with putting in your starting lineup in 2019.
San Francisco failed to produce a single 500-yard wide receiver in 2018, which would typically indicate the desire to steer clear of this crop this season.
Pettis managed just 467 yards in year one, although he did post five touchdowns — a new franchise record for end-zone scores by a rookie receiver.
Over his final five games, however, Pettis managed a total of 359 yards. That averages out to 71.8 yards per contest. And when you look at that kind of production over a full season, it’s indicative of WR1 numbers in more than a few leagues.
Dante Pettis got off to a sluggish start in 2018. But over his final five games, he averaged 71.8 receiving yards per contest and had four touchdowns.
— Peter Panacy (@PeterPanacy) May 20, 2019
Extrapolated over a 16-game season, that's 1,148 yards and 12 touchdowns. That's entering WR1 territory, folks. #49ers #49wz
Fantasy Football Calculator ranks Pettis the No. 30 wide receiver heading into 2019, holding an average draft position (ADP) of 6.12 (sixth round, 12th selection) in 12-team points-per-reception (PPR) leagues.
That’s a steal, especially knowing Pettis will benefit from a healthy return of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the fray.