The 2020 NFL Draft is in the books, and that means it’s time for us to fully turn our attention to the 2020 NFL season and fantasy football. While COVID-19 means we can’t guarantee an NFL season, our league mates want us to be on our heels, unprepared for the season. Never you fear, Football Absurdity is here to cover all of the 78 fantasy football eligible players drafted in the 2020 NFL Draft. Keep in mind, most of these guys won’t get selected in your draft, but you’ll want to know these 2020 NFL draftees when your fantasy football draft comes around. As for undrafted free agents, we will worry about those guys down the line. We’ve already covered the Cardinals and the Rams, and we continue around the NFC West with the San Francisco 49ers.
The last we saw the San Francisco 49ers, they were blowing a 20-10 lead in the Super Bowl. This is something I am definitely not still bitter about, and I absolutely don’t see the defense mugging for the camera after a turnover in the Super Bowl whenever I close my eyes. I don’t know why you would bring that up. Since then, they turned one perennial Pro Bowl left tackle (Joe Staley) into another perennial Pro Bowl left tackle (Trent Williams). The Niners moved DeForest Buckner for the #13 pick to take another DeForest Buckner, Javon Kinlaw. They also lost Emmanuel Sanders and drafted his replacement (Brandon Aiyuk). The Niners also moved Marquise Goodwin and Matt Breida, two players who no longer fit the roster, for middling picks. They took three fantasy football-eligible players in the draft, but are they worth your time in your fantasy football leagues?
FULL SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS DRAFT RESULTS
| Rd | Pick | Player | Pos | School |
| 1 | 14 | Javon Kinlaw | DT | South Carolina |
| 1 | 25 | Brandon Aiyuk | WR | ASU |
| 5 | 7 | Colton McKivitz | OT | W Virginia |
| 6 | 11 | Charlie Woerner | TE | Georgia |
| 7 | 3 | Jauan Jennings | WR | Tennessee |
Round 1, Pick 25 : Brandon Aiyuk, WR, Arizona State University (6’0” 205 lbs)
| 40-yd Dash | Bench Press | Vertical Jump | Broad Jump | 3 Cone | 20-yd shuttle | 60-yd shuttle |
| 4.5s (u) | 11 reps | 40.0 in | 128.0 in | — | — | — |
Courtesy: NFL.com, (u) = unofficial.
Depth Chart:
WR1 Deebo Samuel
WR2 Brandon Aiyuk
WR3 Kendrick Bourne
WR4 Trent Taylor
WR5 Dante Pettis
WR6 Travis Benjamin
WR7 Jalen Hurd
WR8 Jauan Jennings
WR9 Richie James Jr
TALENT
Brandon Aiyuk has incredible on-field speed, which means that the 4.5 40-yard dash isn’t the most indicative measurement. He basically runs past everyone on the football field. He has great hands and an underdeveloped route tree, but he gets open and has incredible YAC skills. A knack for getting the ball in his hands stems from being an exceptional hand fighter with good late hands in the target. His body control to adjust to the ball in the air certainly doesn’t hurt. His size hurts his ability to be a true “my ball” target but that doesn’t stop Aiyuk from having that mentality. Aiyuk’s freakishly long arms don’t hurt that mentality. He is more explosive than a box of dynamite but struggles with press coverage on his own, and overall testament to his biggest issue being physicality.
Aiyuk wasn’t my favorite WR in this class (I had him ranked as WR10). But, Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch had him over more talented players who didn’t fit the profile they wanted. For example, they passed on Tee Higgins to draft Aiyuk, who is a better player. The water bug Aiyuk better fits the 49ers’ offense than the “throw it up and go get it” style where Tee Higgins excels (think Robert Woods versus Kenny Golladay). I get taking him in the first; I don’t think he made it out of the 30s.
2020 OPPORTUNITY
Just look at that depth chart. It’s a mess. I live and breathe the San Francisco 49ers and I rearranged it three or four times. Luckily the mess is behind him and will resolve itself before the 2020 season starts. Jalen Hurd is just now overcoming a back injury from last preseason, and Jennings is Hurd insurance. Dante Pettis isn’t long for this roster, and Travis Benjamin will follow him out the door. One of Trent Taylor or Richie James will be inactive on game days. That depth chart is… a lot. Thank goodness Aiyuk firmly sits atop it with incumbent Deebo Samuel.
That’s where the real problems come in: Jimmy G threw the ball 476 times last year. Only 233 of his targets went to wide receivers, the third-lowest raw number, and fourth-lowest rate. There just aren’t a lot of WR targets to divide up, especially when you consider that Deebo Samuel probably walks away with about half of them. Aiyuk provides some DFS and best-ball intrigue but the target load leaves a lot to be desired for 2020.
2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
There isn’t a real reason to draft Brandon Aiyuk in your 2020 fantasy football leagues unless you really want to handcuff Deebo Samuel. Should Samuel go down, then sure, snag Aiyuk. Kyle Shanahan is a wizard at scheming guys open, but the WR1 targets in a low-volume pass offense go to All-World TE George Kittle. Don’t expect high levels of weekly production in the case of a Deebo Samuel injury; the target load would likely flatten, getting Kendrick Bourne and whichever of the myriad of other receivers more involved. Then again, like a certain third and eight 36-yard touchdown run in the playoffs… Kyle Shanahan loves to zig when everyone else is thinking that he is going to zag.
TALENT:
OPPORTUNITY:
2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 6, Pick 11: Charlie Woerner, Tight End, Georgia (6’5” 244 lbs)
| 40-yd Dash | Bench Press | Vertical Jump | Broad Jump | 3 Cone | 20-yd shuttle | 60-yd shuttle |
| 4.78 (u) | 21 reps | 34.5 in | 120.0 in | 7.18s | 4.46s | — |
Courtesy: NFL.com, (u) = unofficial.
Depth Chart:
TE1 George Kittle
TE2 Ross Dwelley
TE3 Charlier Woerner
TALENT
To say the 49ers’ drafted talent takes a big nosedive after Aiyuk is understating it. That’ll happen when you spend a first-round pick on a wide receiver, and then trade everything until the fifth round. The 49ers took Woerner in the sixth round. It’s hard to evaluate his talent because he was PFF’s #1 overall blocking tight end last season. He also caught nine balls for 78 yards and a touchdown. It’s clear why he is on the 49ers, and it has nothing to do with your fantasy football team. It’s to replace Levine Toilolo and Garrett Celek’s contributions to the team.
2020 OPPORTUNITY
If you rolled up all of Toilolo and Celek’s targets last season and quadrupled them, then doubled that, you would have 24 targets. That’s right; three targets… combined. Toilolo and Celek were there to block, they weren’t there to matter for fantasy football. Woerner is in the exact same boat.
2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Don’t overthink this.
TALENT (BLOCKING ONLY): 
OPPORTUNITY: 
2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 7, Pick 3: Jauan Jennings, Wide Receiver, Tennessee (6’3” 215 lbs)
| 40-yd Dash | Bench Press | Vertical Jump | Broad Jump | 3 Cone | 20-yd shuttle | 60-yd shuttle |
| 4.72s (u) | — | 29.0 in | 119.0 in | — | — | — |
Courtesy: NFL.com, (u) = unofficial.
Depth Chart:
WR1 Deebo Samuel
WR2 Brandon Aiyuk
WR3 Kendrick Bourne
WR4 Trent Taylor
WR5 Dante Pettis
WR6 Travis Benjamin
WR7 Jalen Hurd
WR8 Jauan Jennings
WR9 Richie James Jr
TALENT
Jauan Jennings is a big and strong slot receiver. He has hardly any speed and is more a tackle breaker than a guy that runs past anyone. Think of a small tight end and you get the idea. Also, this dude needs to get ginkgo Biloba and check out the Binaural Beats – Focus station on Spotify because his focus drops are a problem. He’s really hard to bring down, and that with a strong “my ball” mentality are his calling cards. He is extremely stiff and has trouble with stride and wiggle allowing him to get away from defenders in the open field. He had troubles with coaches in college and needs to be coached up in the NFL. That doesn’t bode well for him unless the 49ers force him to screw his head on straight.
Still, his tackle-breaking ability make for some serious highlight plays. His seventeen 20+ yard plays led the Volunteers last year, and his 30 broken tackles led the NCAA. He’ll be good for Jimmy G, if he gets on the field.
2020 OPPORTUNITY
Jennings is Jalen Hurd insurance. Just look at that depth chart. Like I said in the Brandon Aiyuk portion of this, I’m not close to being sure how the depth chart shakes out. There’s so much in the air, but I can only see Jennings peaking as a depth, rotation WR. And that only happens if a lot of guys get hurt and Jennings balls out.
2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
He’s not likely to get more than 30 targets this year, even as a best-case scenario for him. You can ignore him in fantasy football entirely.
TALENT:
OPPORTUNITY:
2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
For more 2020 NFL Draft coverage, check out these:
Arizona Cardinals Rookie Roundup
Fantasy Football Fallout: 2020 NFL Draft Round One
Football Absurdity Podcast: First Round Recap
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