Unexpected 49ers signing could be major fantasy football sleeper

I don't typically like giving out fantasy football advice because so much of it is a roll of the dice that requires following the rest of the NFL in a very specific, in-depth manner.

However, I'm going to dish out this piece of advice with the preseason winding down and many fantasy drafts on the horizon. Are you ready? Okay, here it goes:

Draft 49ers running back Jeff Wilson Jr.

This is not to say he should be a first-round pick. In fact, he shouldn't be an any-round pick before the last one when everyone is taking their kicker, defense or some crazy flyer. It's also worth noting Wilson hasn't even secured a 53-man roster spot after signing ahead of the 49ers' second preseason game vs. the Las Vegas Raiders.

If he winds up getting cut before your draft, then disregard this.

If he does make the team, there are plenty of reasons to sneak him onto your fantasy roster.

First, Wilson may be the running back behind Christian McCaffrey that head coach Kyle Shanahan trusts the most. Wilson knows the offense after joining the 49ers as an undrafted rookie in 2018 and spending his first four-and-a-half seasons in San Francisco. It stands to reason that the 29-year-old would be able to hit the ground running if called upon (no pun intended).

Of course, trust of the head coach doesn't translate in fantasy. Volume does. And there's certainly no guarantee that Wilson will be active on game days much less get any regular touches. There's an easy path to his fantasy relevance, though.

McCaffrey's health is one of the biggest question marks lingering on the 49ers' roster this season. If he's unavailable, the club would likely turn to second-year RB Isaac Guerendo. Guerendo has had his own issues staying healthy, including dealing with a shoulder injury that kept him out for most of this year's training camp. If McCaffrey is unavailable and Guerendo goes down, the competition for RB snaps becomes sparse. That's where Shanahan's faith in Wilson could translate to volume.

The last time Wilson was with the 49ers was in 2022 when he piled up 468 yards and two touchdowns on 92 carries, along with 91 receiving yards on 10 receptions.

As it stands heading into the preseason finale Saturday, Wilson would probably be on the roster alongside rookie fifth-round pick Jordan James. James missed all three weeks of the preseason schedule because of a broken finger that required surgery. He may have a ways to go before Shanahan is ready to make him the lead back.

If Wilson does stay with San Francisco through roster cuts, he's worth an add late in fantasy football because the pathway to carries isn't particularly perilous. Ideally for the 49ers, McCaffrey will be healthy all year and fantasy managers will be dropping Wilson at some point during the season. The risk of being the manager that has to drop him is well worth the reward of potentially having the 49ers' No. 1 RB at some point in the season.

More 49ers: 49ers retain recently-waived rookie, open door to keeping him long-term

This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Fantasy football sleepers: 49ers RB Jeff Wilson Jr. may have value