Dante Pettis Fantasy Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em: How to Approach 49ers WR

Dante Pettis

Getty San Francisco 49ers WR Dante Pettis

It’s officially safe to call the 2018 NFL season a breakout campaign for San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Dante Pettis. And for those fantasy football owners who rolled through the early weeks of the season with him on their roster, they reaped the benefits as of late. But heading into the Week 15 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, Pettis was dealing with a foot injury leaving his status somewhat up in the air.

Fortunately, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed, Pettis is expected to play in this game, although he’s listed as questionable.

Over the span of the past three games, Pettis has received at least seven targets in each and broke out for 255 yards. Even more important for fantasy football players is the fact that he’s scored four touchdowns in that three-game stretch and has shown a solid rapport with quarterback Nick Mullens.

Let’s take a look at whether he’s a fantasy start or sit in Week 15 against the rival Seahawks.


Dante Pettis Week 15 Fantasy Outlook

In previous years, a matchup with the Seahawks would seem somewhat daunting. And although they aren’t bad, Seattle comes in near the middle of the league against opposing wideouts. They’ve given up 165 receptions for 2,129 yards and 12 touchdowns this season. That bodes well for the emerging Pettis, even with the 49ers expected to have the bulk of their currently-healthy receivers.

There was some concern over how Pettis’ workload would look when Marquise Goodwin back, but that was put aside last week. As Football Outsiders shows, Pettis paced the 49ers wide receiver corps in terms of snaps in Week 14, playing 85 percent. This was ahead of Kendrick Bourne (60 percent), Goodwin (33 percent) and Trent Taylor (32 percent).

The matchup shouldn’t push you off Pettis, and his health seems to be sound as well, pointing to the 23-year-old being in a good fantasy spot this week.


Should You Start or Sit Dante Pettis?

If you’ve been using Pettis in recent weeks, there’s no reason to shy away from that this week. Obviously, much of this decision comes down to the options you have on your fantasy roster, but there’s reason to continue to buy into the Pettis hype. He has solid upside and a very real chance to continue his touchdown stretch.

A player who’s seen 21 targets in the past three games while scoring touchdowns on four of his 12 receptions is tough to find. There’s some concern over the multiple other faces who can produce for the 49ers at receiver, but I’d be comfortable using Pettis in quite a few spots against the Seahawks.

Realistically, Pettis is a solid play in 14-team leagues or larger, and if you’re in desperate need of a flex in 12-team leagues, I’d consider rolling him out there as well.

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