NFL Week 1 Recap: Immediate fantasy football takeaways from 49ers-Rams

• San Francisco 49ers rookies play a large role: De’Zhaun Stribling led the 49ers wide receivers in snaps before leaving with an injury, while Kaelon Black cut into Christian McCaffrey’s snaps and touches more than anyone expected.

• The Los Angeles Rams tweak their offensive strategy: The Rams continued to use 13 personnel at a high rate, but their rotations at running back, wide receiver and tight end all changed subtly from last season.

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San Francisco 49ers @ Los Angeles Rams

The 49ers use a two-man backfield: Christian McCaffrey played 83% of the 49ers’ offensive snaps on average last season, but his snap rate declined significantly in this game.

Each season, the 49ers talk about reducing McCaffrey’s workload to help keep him healthy. This season appears to be the year San Francisco is following through. During the preseason, Kaelon Black won the backup job, in part because he stayed healthier throughout training camp. It became even clearer that Black was the No. 2 option when Jordan James was a healthy inactive for this game. That left San Francisco with only two true halfbacks, although Kyle Juszczyk and Deebo Samuel are capable of playing halfback in an emergency.

Black played five snaps in place of McCaffrey on the first drive alone. The 49ers had even longer opening drives at times last season, and McCaffrey was taken off the field for no more than three plays. McCaffrey remained the preferred option on third downs, in short-yardage situations and near the goal line, but the early-down snaps were split far more evenly than at any point during his time in San Francisco outside of his first few weeks after joining the team midway through the 2022 season. McCaffrey led the backfield in touches, but Black led the team in carries, and both running backs were effective.

McCaffrey could become more involved as the season progresses after dealing with an injury during training camp. However, if the 49ers are winning most of their games, Black could continue rotating in early and taking over much of the work late in games. McCaffrey remains a must-start fantasy option, particularly because of his receiving ability, but returning first-round value will be much more difficult if he isn’t consistently reaching 15 touches per game. Meanwhile, Black has emerged as the biggest waiver-wire target for Week 2 so far.

Monitor De’Zhaun Stribling’s health: The second-round rookie wide receiver suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter and was ruled out before halftime.

The 49ers' wide receiver room underwent a makeover this offseason. San Francisco opted not to bring back Jauan Jennings, Kendrick Bourne, Marquez Valdes-Scantling or Skyy Moore, while Ricky Pearsall suffered a season-ending PCL injury. The 49ers added Mike Evans in free agency, brought back Deebo Samuel after his year with the Washington Commanders and drafted Stribling. They joined returning wide receiver Demarcus Robinson. Evans missed the preseason due to injury, while Samuel, Stribling and Robinson rotated with the starters and took snaps at multiple wide receiver positions.

Stribling led the 49ers' wide receivers in snaps after the first three drives, while Evans led the group in targets. They were consistently the two receivers in 21 personnel, while Samuel and Robinson joined them in a four-man rotation in 11 personnel. The 49ers didn't have the clearly defined wide receiver roles they've used in the past. Evans primarily lined up as the X receiver but also played more in the slot than usual, and all four wide receivers took snaps both inside and outside.

Stribling briefly left the game with an injury, returned and then exited again. After his injury, Samuel and Robinson split snaps opposite Evans in two-receiver sets, while all three played together in 11 personnel. Even with Stribling sidelined, Evans rotated out more frequently than usual when healthy.

Stribling was shaping up as a potential buy-low candidate before the injury because of his promising playing time, even though the targets hadn't followed yet. Samuel was trending toward drop-candidate territory because Robinson‘s involvement prevented him from establishing himself as the clear No. 3 option. If Stribling's injury is serious, however, Samuel could take on a larger role in the offense going forward.

George Kittle’s quiet return: Kittle played his first game since tearing his Achilles in last season’s playoffs.

Kittle typically plays more than 86% of the 49ers’ offensive snaps, except in blowouts or games he leaves early due to injury. When Kittle initially suffered the injury less than nine months ago, he was expected to miss the start of the season. Instead, he worked his way back in time for Week 1 and appeared ready to play. Still, he was held without a reception in his first game back from injury last season, which, combined with the matchup, gave fantasy managers reason to be cautious about putting him in starting lineups.

Kittle started the game and played extensively on the first drive, but he rotated out more frequently as the game progressed. Last season, Jake Tonges served as Kittle’s direct replacement, but the 49ers leaned more heavily on blocking tight end Luke Farrell in this game. Tonges suffered a knee injury late in the second quarter and didn’t return, leaving Farrell to generally handle first and second downs while Kittle played primarily on third downs.

The 49ers have some extra time before their next game, but it would be understandable for fantasy managers to wait another week or two before putting Kittle back into starting lineups.

Rams running back rotation continues: Kyren Williams led a two-man rotation with Blake Corum, similar to last season.

Williams has finished as a top-10 fantasy running back in each of the past three seasons, but he wasn’t drafted among the top 10 this year because of Corum. Williams earned an 87.1 rushing grade, including the playoffs, last season, ranking seventh among running backs with at least 100 carries. Corum was even better on the ground, ranking sixth with an 87.2 rushing grade, although Williams has been the better receiver and pass protector.

Last season, Williams played 59.5% of the Rams’ playoff snaps, compared with 37.2% for Corum. By the end of the season, the two were essentially rotating by drive, with Williams handling every two-minute drill regardless of where the Rams were in the rotation.

That rotation shifted more in Williams’ favor in this game. The Rams continued rotating their running backs by drive, but Williams occasionally played a few snaps during Corum’s drives, while Corum didn’t take snaps during Williams’ drives. However, Corum frequently received the ball when he was on the field, while Williams’ touch-per-snap rate was much lower. As the Rams fell further behind, Williams stayed on the field as the passing-down back. Had Los Angeles held a lead or kept the game closer, the Rams likely would have continued rotating by drive.

In games with a more favorable script, both running backs may reach 15 touches. Williams remains the better fantasy option because of his receiving ability, even if Corum is slightly more effective as a runner.

Rams adjust their tight-end rotation: Popular sleeper tight end Terrance Ferguson played an increased role to begin his second season.

The Rams used 13 personnel more often in 2025 than any team had in the previous 20 years, despite rarely using it during the first half of the season. Los Angeles had a four-game stretch from Week 7 through Week 11 when it began using 13 personnel at a high rate, before Tyler Higbee was injured. Los Angeles retained the same tight ends from last season, making that stretch the best starting point for what to expect this year.

During that span, Colby Parkinson played 58.5% of the snaps, Davis Allen played 50.9%, Higbee played 46.1% and Ferguson played 35.3%. Each had a specific role. Parkinson and Higbee split snaps in 11 personnel on early downs, while Higbee and Ferguson split them on third downs. Allen and Ferguson were the two tight ends in 12 personnel, while Parkinson and Allen were joined by a rotation of Higbee and Ferguson in 13 personnel. That distribution made it difficult to trust any of them in fantasy, although positive camp reports made Ferguson a sleeper option entering the season.

The biggest development from this game was Higbee being phased out of the offense. The 33-year-old team captain was rarely on the field, leaving Parkinson as the primary tight end in 11 personnel on early downs and Ferguson as the primary option on third downs. The 13-personnel rotation remained similar to last season, but Ferguson clearly out-snapped Higbee. Allen was evaluated for a concussion early in the third quarter, leading Higbee and Ferguson to consistently play together in 13 personnel.

The changes gave Ferguson a higher route participation rate than he posted in most games last season, but the increased opportunities didn’t lead to targets. Ideally, Ferguson will also cut into Parkinson’s early-down playing time in 11 personnel. If the targets follow, Ferguson could become a popular waiver-wire target, although the rest of the talent on Los Angeles’ roster makes that far from guaranteed.

Miscellaneous Notes

• Second-year running back Jordan James was a healthy inactive, making it clearer that Kaelon Black is the 49ers' RB2.

• The 49ers made wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge a practice squad call-up. Jordan Watkins was a healthy inactive.

• Fullback Kyle Juszczyk was limited in practice all week with a finger injury, but he was active.

• Puka Nacua played a notably high percentage of the Rams’ offensive snaps in this game. He is typically rotated out more frequently than other top receivers, which contributes to his high yards-per-route-run numbers. The increased playing time was partly due to Los Angeles playing from behind late, but Nacua also played more frequently in 13 personnel early in the game than he did late last season. Konata Mumpfield often played in 13 personnel last season, but that wasn’t the case in this game.

• Tight end George Kittle was limited with his Achilles injury but wasn’t given a game status.

• The Rams inactives included wide receiver Tutu Atwell, whom the Rams traded for late in training camp. It also included rookie quarterback Ty Simpson, tight end Max Klare and wide receiver CJ Daniels.

• Los Angeles put in backups for the last four minutes of the game, slightly skewing the snap counts for all of the Rams' star players. This is the only time Ronnie Rivers received offensive snaps.

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Table Notes

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

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy will be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may assign 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.