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The Week 7 matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the San Francisco 49ers features two teams dealing with injuries in the backfield. We've got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It’s a good thing running back Jacquizz Rodgers impressed in his first game as a starter for the Buccaneers. It looks like Doug Martin and Charles Sims are going to be out for a while. Martin in particular has suffered a recent setback with his hamstring issues. So Rodgers will be up against a 49ers defense that gave up three touchdowns to Buffalo’s LeSean McCoy in Week 6. Rodgers turned a whopping 35 touches into 129 yards against the Carolina Panthers in Week 5 heading into the team’s bye. He will be a high-volume contributor in San Francisco without a doubt.
Fantasy owners are hoping the same can be said for wide receiver Mike Evans. Evans is coming off of a game that saw him catch six passes for 89 yards and a touchdown against the Panthers. He had a strong second half in the contest even though it wasn’t enough to lead the Bucs to a win. Evans has seen double digits in targets and scored a touchdown in four out of five games this season. He will likely surpass his projections in Week 7.
San Francisco 49ers
Colin Kaepernick fared a little bit better than Blaine Gabbert probably would have in the team’s Week 6 loss at the hands of the Buffalo Bills. Kaepernick completed just 13 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown against the Bills, but he did manage to rush for 66 yards, which helped his final stat line. He’s not going to be mass-added in fantasy leagues just yet, but Kaepernick will continue to start in Week 7. He should top his projections and could make for an intriguing fantasy option during the second half of the season.
One player that’s probably happy to see Kaepernick under center is wide receiver Torrey Smith. In his last three games under Gabbert, Smith saw just seven targets total. He equalled that total in Week 6 and caught three passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. His best days are behind him, but Smith appears to have more of a connection with Kaepernick. If fantasy owners are going to start a 49ers wide receiver it’s either going to be Smith or Jeremy Kerley. It’s hard to tell who will do better this week but neither can be trusted to reach their projected totals with consistency. Perhaps Smith has some upside for now given that running back Carlos Hyde is listed as doubtful for the game.