Summer Sleeper: San Francisco 49ers

Eric Olinger

49ers

With less than a month before all training camps open around the NFL, we’re continuing our annual series focusing on a few sleepers from all 32 teams in the NFL. You can find all of the Summer Sleeper articles here.

These sleepers all have varying levels of “sleeperness,” but all merit a little more talking about here in the Premium Content section. Some of these players are deep dynasty sleepers who could merit a spot on your bench in a deep league, while others are players who may contribute a little faster than the deep prospects, but deserve more attention than they may be getting. By definition, a sleeper could mean something a little different to everyone, but we’re simply doing the best job we can to unearth one player from each team who fits the category in some way, shape or form.

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We’ll never insult you with a comprehensive list of “sleepers” which include such such dynasty mainstay names as Toby Gerhart, Christine Michael or Cordarrelle Patterson. You’re all too good for that.

While many of these players will undoubtedly fizzle, there’s more value in looking more closely at these deeper prospects and players. We invite you to keep an open mind and either or re-assess your value on those who may be rostered in your league or consider adding a few of these deeper prospects we focus on this Summer who are free agents in your league – after all, some are destined to pan out, too.

Feel free to add your own comments about our choice for the designated sleeper, or nominate one of your own!

Bruce Ellington, WR SF

It’s never easy for a rookie wide receiver to step in and produce right away. It’s even harder when you’re buried behind Anquan Boldin, Michael Crabtree, Vernon Davis and Stevie Johnson on a run-first team. This is the situation ahead of Ellington, the 5’9” / 197 pound rookie out of South Carolina. Working in his favor is the team’s lack of a true deep threat. The aforementioned veterans all do their damage within 15 yards of the line of scrimmage. If they can get someone to blow the top off of defenses and put Colin Kaepernick’s cannon arm to good use, this whole offense could go from “ground and pound” to “slash and dash.” If you’re unfamiliar with Ellington’s college numbers, here they are:

ellingtonchart

If you tuned into any South Carolina games the last couple of years to watch Jadeveon Clowney or Marcus Lattimore, you may have noticed a slightly undersized wide receiver making ridiculous circus catches while contorting his body and out jumping defenders. Ellington’s ability to wait until the last possible second to make his move on the ball is nothing short of elite – think of Steve Smith without all the punches to teammates’ heads. His ability to go up and high point catches for a player his side is very impressive, too. He uses his hands to make the catch, rarely allowing the ball to get into his body, and once he has it he uses 4.45 wheels to outrun defenders. He also has a lot of jitterbug to his game using quick twitch moves to lose defenders. He’ll need to sharpen his route running some as a pro, but he has plenty of time to work on it. His rookie year will most likely be spent as a situational deep threat, mostly running go-routes and deep posts.

You can see in the highlight reel his ability to make the catch in traffic while not shying away from contact – this is something the 49ers have lacked since Kaepernick took over for Alex Smith. They tried adding it through the draft with A.J. Jenkins, via trade with Jon Baldwin and through free agency with a run down Randy Moss. Now this role will be up for grabs between Ellington, Quinton Patton and Brandon Lloyd. Out of this trio, Ellington appears to be the favorite. Patton has battled foot injuries since entering the league and Lloyd has been unable to rekindle the fire found with Josh McDaniels and the Denver Broncos.

Ellington won’t be a factor this year in 10-team or shallow 12-team leagues but in deep leagues with deep rosters, or especially “best ball” leagues, he is a player worth adding. He has caught the eye of Kaepernick during OTAs and there are whispers the Niners want to turn the offense over to the quarterback they just dumped $126 million into. I’m not saying I expect the 49ers to morph into the Denver Broncos all of a sudden. However, I do believe they realize their defense might be a little weaker than they’ve been accustomed to during the Harbaugh era while NaVarro Bowman recovers from a torn ACL and Aldon Smith recovers from “HeadUpHisyouknowwhatmosis,” a terrible disease affecting too many of the league’s young superstars. There have been documented outbreaks in Cleveland and Jacksonville as well.

With an ADP of 232.7 as the WR100, he will cost you almost nothing. At this point in a draft, I have no problem gambling on talent and Bruce Ellington has plenty of it.

Follow me on Twitter @OlingerIDP

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eric olinger
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