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New home of Mike Martz, and his Martzian offense! Just ask anyone, right when he gets to town he makes every single offensive player a fantasy stud. Just ask Tatum Bell. Look, I understand Martz runs a high octane offense that has made fantasy stars out of Jon Kitna and Marc Bulger. I also don't believe you can just assume an offensive coordinator polishes dung into gold.
The Breakout
We're going to dig deep here. In deep leagues (14-16 team leagues) with longer benches you might give Josh Morgan a look. The sixth round pick out of West Virginia has impressed Niners brass thus far, and has a shot at seeing real time in the slot. In front of him you'll find five guys, but one of them has failed in two different cities, another is an octogenarian. If Martz can inject any life at all into the passing attack, Morgan has a shot to come from out of nowhere and be usable in fantasy leagues.
The Bust
Alex Smith = bust. You can talk about his draft slot, his career up to this point, or his career moving forward. Now,Shaun Hill is in the fold. Sure, the Niners will give Smith every chance to take the job, but he's just not that good. If people in your league are giddy about how much of a stud Martz is gonna make Smith, sit back and let them. Laughing on the inside is always a good time. If given the choice, I'd take Rex Grossman over him.
The Depth Chart
QB1 - Alex Smith
QB2 - Shaun Hill
RB1 - Frank Gore
RB2 - DeShaun Foster
RB3 - Michael Robinson
WR1 - Bryant Johnson
WR2 - Isaac Bruce
WR3 - Arnez Battle
WR4 - Ashley Lelie
WR5 - Josh Morgan
TE1 - Vernon Davis
K - Joe Nedney
The D/ST
You don't want any piece of them. They weren't usable last year and the big move was adding a pass rusher that only had two sacks last season (Justin Smith).
The Skinny
They certainly tried to bolster the receiving game for Martz's arrival. Ashley Lelie, Bryant Johnson, Isaac Bruce, and Morgan have all joined Arnez Battle. Of the group, Johnson easily has the best combination of experience and talent. He's really the only one I'd bother drafting in 10-12 team leagues.
Davis has been a bust compared to expectations since being highly drafted by the Niners. He still has that freakish talent which earned him the reputation ... just no quality QB to get him the football. He's worth a shot, though, as a lower-tier starter.
On Frank Gore: there are plenty of people fawning all over Gore this year because of the Martzian effect. Remember, though, that Martz has always excelled with his offenses in the passing game. Gore will get catches and tons of touches, but assuming that adding an offensive coordinator makes him any better than he was before is a bit presumtuous. He's going to be a stud, yes, but please don't take him before sixth overall.
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Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Where to start on this one...
• Picking WR Josh Morgan as the breakout player is a reach. Niner rookies on the offensive side of the ball rarely see the field under Mike Nolan. Second year WR Jason Hill will be in front of Morgan on the depth chart anyway.
• Calling Alex Smith a bust is a knee-jerk, uninformed opinion. Smith did well under Norv Turner in 2006, and for last season the kid deserves a mulligan for getting his shoulder busted up in week 4 and dealing with Jim Hostler as his extremely inept offensive coordinator.
Would I start Smith on my fantasy team? Probably not at the beginning of the season... but he could be a good option down the stretch as the Niners back-end of the schedule is much easier than their brutal start. We'll see how the Martz experiment works out.
• Rex Grossman over Alex Smith? I'll take Smith throwing to Vernon Davis, Frank Gore, Bryant Johnson, Isaac Bruce, and Arnaz Battle over Grossman and his group of reject WR's any day of the week. Again, watch the film of Smith in 2006. 2007 was a wash... not the kid's fault.
•Fantasy picks... Gore is a solid RB1, Vernon Davis is a good TE for later rounds, and same with Bryant Johnson at the WR position. Take Smith off waivers after the bye.