49ers vs. Cardinals: Fantasy football projections featuring Frank Gore, Larry Fitzgerald, Vernon Davis

Christian Petersen

We break down the pertinent fantasy projections for the Week 8 matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals.

The Arizona Cardinals host the San Francisco 49ers in a sizable NFC West showdown. The matchup features two tough defenses, which could make for less than stellar fantasy performances, particularly in the passing game. However, there may be some solid rushing options. In order to prepare you to wrap up Week 8 of the NFL season, we've got player projections courtesy of numberFire.

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers passing attack remains an inconsistent question mark, Frank Gore is not. Although he is on pace for a relatively low number of carries, the 49ers lead running back is having one of his strongest seasons, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. He is locked in as a solid start.

From the passing perspective, there really is no guarantee at this point. Mario Manningham seemed to be re-emerging as a fantasy force, before a shoulder injury shelved him this past week. He will return and could be a decent sleeper the rest of the way. Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis remain the top two weapons in the passing attack, but until we see some consistency from Alex Smith, temper expectations.

Arizona Cardinals

One of the most frequent questions is how to evaluate Larry Fitzgerald with his poor quarterback situation. While Fitzgerald is dealing with a pair of questionable quarterbacks, he remains a guy you start most weeks, barring incredibly wide receiver depth. This week against the 49ers though, Andre Roberts might be the guy who finishes with the best fantasy day. The Vikings rolled their coverage all over Fitzgerald last week, and Roberts benefited. We'll see how the 49ers cover Fitzgerald and Roberts.

In the rushing game, LaRod Stephens-Howling surprised people by taking over the starting role from William Powell. The coaches indicated it was because he was the hot-hand, so we'll see if he continues getting the carries against a tough 49ers rush defense.

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