NFL Week 15 Fantasy Football Recap: San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks

• George Kittle’s home away from home: Kittle has gained 274 yards and four touchdowns in his last two trips to Seattle.
• The San Francisco 49ers aren’t afraid to give Christian McCaffrey touches: McCaffrey was constantly given the ball partly thanks to Deebo Samuel’s injury.
• Kenneth Walker III’s quiet return: Walker returned to the Seattle Seahawks after missing last week but was ineffective against the 49ers great defense.

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San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks

• George Kittle: 4 receptions, 93 yards, 2 touchdowns
• Christian McCaffrey: 26 carries, 108 yards, 1 touchdown, 6 receptions, 30 receiving yards

The 49ers without Deebo Samuel: Samuel missed this game and is expected to miss one or two more due to ankle and knee injuries.

• Ray-Ray McCloud III was Samuel's immediate replacement last week, but Jauan Jennings was the every-down player for the 49ers this week.
• McCloud joined the 49ers' offense whenever it used three-receiver sets, which wasn’t very often.
• Third-round rookie Danny Gray moved up to fourth on the depth chart. He made his first NFL catch last week but suffered a hamstring injury in this game.
• While those two saw played more, the 49ers' star players saw the increase in touches.

The 49ers rely heavily on Christian McCaffrey: He touched the ball 30 times for the first time as a 49er.

• Previously, he dominated first-half snaps before the 49ers use more of a rotation in the second half.
• He’s played in 83.7% of the 49ers’ first-half snaps from Weeks 8-14 compared to 60.2% in the second half.
• He played 100% of the team's first-half snaps Thursday night, including registering a carry or target on two of every three plays for the 49ers.
• They rotated Jordan Mason in a little bit in the second half, but not nearly as much as last week. McCaffrey continued to carry the ball even with a 15-point lead in the middle of the fourth quarter.
• Mason received two goalline snaps, but they were kneel-downs.
• McCaffrey’s production was a combination of the matchup and injuries to teammates, but San Francisco’s next two opponents should also yield positive results for fantasy managers.

Kenneth Walker III‘s return: Walker missed last week due to an ankle injury but was able to practice a few days and returned to the Seahawks' starting lineup Thursday night.

• Walker played in his usual role, taking the early-down and short-yardage snaps while Travis Homer played on passing downs.
• Walker gained some snaps in the two-minute drill after Homer fumbled. 
• He also received all of the two-minute drill snaps in the second half. He typically hasn’t played much in these situations in the past.
• His stat line was unimpressive thanks to the game script and the 49ers defense.
• San Francisco has allowed the fewest fantasy points to running backs this season.
• The Seahawks were still without DeeJay Dallas due to an ankle injury, but he was unlikely to see much playing time even if he was healthy.
• Walker can more safely be put in starting lineups for the next two weeks, but the Seahawks offense will need to play a lot better for Walker to be a league winner.

The Seahawks' frustrating tight end rotation: Both Noah Fant and Will Dissly played less than usual Thursday night.

• Dissly and Fant both ranked top 16 in PFF receiving grade among tight ends this season heading into Thursday night’s game. Either one could be a fantasy starter if the was the solo tight end.
• The Seahawks have used a three-man rotation at tight end all season, which has made it impossible to trust any of them in fantasy leagues.
• Fant caught a late touchdown, but it easily could have been Dissly, who caught a pass just a few plays earlier on the same drive.
• Seattle was playing from behind throughout the night, which meant it couldn’t use as many two or three-tight-end sets.
• The Seahawks also rotated Colby Parkinson in the game even more than usual. Parkinson ran double-digit routes just twice over the first 12 weeks of the season.
• He reached 10 routes in both Weeks 13 and 14 and that increased more against the 49ers.
• All three tight ends are under contract for 2023 at appropriate prices. We could see a similar three-man rotation next year, and it could be worse if Parkinson is viewed equally to Fant and Dissly by the coaching staff.

Monitor Tyler Lockett‘s health: Lockett left the game early with an arm injury.

• It’s unclear when he suffered the injury, as he played every snap on the Seahawks' drive that started at five minutes left in the fourth quarter.
• Reports came out that he left for the locker room during the 49ers' following drive. Seattle never got the ball back.
• The Seahawks haven’t played a game without Lockett or Metcalf so far this season, so we can’t be confident about how the Seahawks would use their wide receivers if Lockett misses a game.
• Chances are Marquise Goodwin would become a starter while Dareke Young and Penny Hart would both see time in three-receiver sets.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.