San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly announced on Tuesday that starting quarterback Blaine Gabbert has been benched in favor of Colin Kaepernick after the team’s 1-4 start to the 2016 season.
For fantasy football owners, that could have an adverse effect on their rosters, but Gabbert was never a hot commodity this season.
According to ESPN.com, Gabbert was owned in just 3.7 percent of fantasy leagues before his benching on Tuesday. He was ranked 17th among all quarterbacks with 68 points, tied for Philadelphia Eagles rookie Carson Wentz.
However, his No. 1 receiver, Jeremy Kerley, has been somewhat of a surprise in fantasy football, ranking 26th among all NFL receivers with 40 points.
It was fueled by two big performances in Weeks 4 and 5, when he recorded 14 and 16 points, respectively, by recording a combined 14 receptions for 190 yards with two touchdowns, via the NFL:
Kerley is the only wide receiver on the 49ers roster to have more than 12 receptions through five games this season, and his 304 yards are 169 more than the second-leading receiver, tight end Garrett Celek.
So even with a quarterbacking change, expect him to continue getting his normal amount of targets. He’s averaging nine per game so far this season and could be a solid flex option if your roster has the space for him.
It will be up to Kaepernick, though, to get the ball out there to him and the other 49ers pass catchers.
The quarterback who has been making headlines off of the field more than on lately hasn’t appeared in a regular-season game since Week 9 of the 2015 season against the Atlanta Falcons.
While that could mean that there will be plenty of rust to shake off, one has to remember that this is a quarterback who rushed for almost 3,400 yards and added another 639 yards on the ground in 2014. Although, that only ranked him as the No. 15 fantasy quarterback in the league, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.
For fantasy owners desperate for a quarterback, Kaepernick could be a risky pickup. Especially because his first game will be against a Buffalo Bills defense that has scored the third-most fantasy points in the league.
Fantasy stats courtesy of ESPN.com.
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