Jerick McKinnon (RB, SF) - Week 1 Waiver Wire Pickups

4 years ago by Pierre Camus

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TESTING NEW WIDGET hide

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deep Leagues

OWNED IN: 10% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: Tarik Cohen, Duke Johnson, Sony Michel. All players who disappointed in 2019. All of them reached the 150-point threshold in full-PPR leagues. The reason they were considered busts had to do with expectations. Michel should have continued his playoff success from the previous year and taken over the primary RB role in New England. Duke Johnson finally had his chance to be the guy in Houston! Then they brought in Carlos Hyde and gave him all the carries. Tarik Cohen, well, he was on the Bears.

All that's to say that a top-30 RB isn't a league-winner and could be disappointing if drafted to be a weekly RB2/Flex. If you can get such a player in the last round of your draft or for free off waivers, you should absolutely jump at the chance. McKinnon, health willing, could be that player. The Niners will deploy a RBBC as usual. With Matt Breida gone, Jet simply steps into that role.

That's not even his main appeal. At last count, the number of healthy receivers in San Francisco was -4. McKinnon is a natural pass-catcher and probably has the best hands of the skill players who will take the field in San Fran. He will get his share of receptions from the backfield and, if Kyle Shanahan listens to my sage advice, could work out of the slot. He's bigger and faster than Hunter Renfrow and Cole Beasley, so why not?

All told, McKinnon has tremendous upside with no risk at his available-for-free status in most leagues. And he happens to be an athletic freak too, ranking inside the 91st percentile at the very least in every workout metrics back from his Combine days.