Every season, despite the multitude of practices and reporting, there are always situations that remain murky. Still, it's August, and everyone has either already started drafting or will be very soon.
Footballguys, of course, has official projections and staff rankings. However, it can be beneficial to delve into these unclear situations in more detail.
To that end, we've asked our staff to focus on five teams:
We all seem to be in the mindset of "Shanahan will find a way." But San Francisco's wide receiver situation is murky at best. We all love Pearsall's potential, but he's by no means a confident lock to be a star (we're leaning that way currently in our projections, but it's a low confidence projection right now), Aiyuk seems like a stone cold lock to be the alpha if his recovery continues apace, but when will that be, and then...? There are a lot of questions up and down the receiving corps, yet we're all comfortably projecting Purdy as a fringe QB1.
Thoughts on the 49ers Offense
Jeff Haseley: I see uncertainty in the passing game for San Francisco if injuries continue to be an issue. The first quarter/half of the season will likely feature more from George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Ricky Pearsall, while Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, Jacob Cowing, etc, heal. Ultimately, this could affect Brock Purdy and his numbers, especially early.
Ben Cummins: From a macro level view, this is an entire offensive unit I'm aggressively buying.
Andy Hicks: This whole team relies on Christian McCaffrey being healthy. A true boom or bust fantasy pick, he has been a flop for three of the last five seasons. The other two, a superstar. Purdy is a rock. He will need to be with the return of Brandon Aiyuk uncertain and Jauan Jennings demanding a new contract. Ricky Pearsall looks ready to step in, and George Kittle will be solid as always. The good news for the team is they get both the NFC and AFC South on their schedule, so they should remain in contention and fantasy viable.