Welcome to the twenty-second part of a thirty-two-part series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. Fantasy football tasseography is deeply rooted in predicting future fantasy fortunes. Some of the team tea cups we'll be looking into may be larger than others. The smallest of cups may have the most alluring blends of offensive weaponry, or be set to bloom after a long steep. This series will aid in your approach to Redraft and Dynasty leagues by bringing you up to date on:

• Free Agency
  • Re-signings, additions, who signed elsewhere, and what it means for fantasy.
• NFL Draft
  • What can we decipher about the direction a team is headed in based on their draft selections?
• Coaching Changes
  • Who's in, who's out, and how do the coaching philosophies translate to fantasy production?
• Fantasy Fortunes
  • What does this all mean for your fantasy football drafts?

Like tasseography, the arrangement of these four sections will vary as we digest each team's offseasons and see how the offensive pieces settle. Each article will interpret what this NFL team has told us about their future plans based on what they've done since their 2025 season ended.

Reading the San Francisco 49ers' 2026 Offseason

The Reshaped WR Room

Six-time Pro Bowl WR Mike Evans is a 49er. While it might not be weird to see him in a red jersey, it sure as hell will be strange seeing the San Francisco abbreviation next to his name when we're checking our scores next fall.

Evans signed a three-year $42M deal that has multiple incentives tied to top 10 production amongst WRs in the second and third year of the contract. Evans, by all means, is capable of cashing out on those incentives, and is immediately the WR1 in this receiving room. 

Surprise Rookie WR Addition

The 49ers surprised us by adding to their WR room with the 33rd pick in the draft, selecting De'Zhaun Stribling from Ole Miss. While Stribling's physical dimensions and propensity to run the go route at Ole Miss might lead you to believe he's a prototypical X-receiver, he was actually most effective as a flanker/slot receiver moving around the formation.

Stribling creates mismatches with his size and 4.36 40-yard-dash speed when working in the short to intermediate area of the field. He's one of the best blocking WRs in this class, and will certainly see the field early in his career.

The only question that remains is how many snaps Stribling will play as a rookie and how Head Coach Kyle Shanahan will deploy him.

Pearsall & A Veteran Addition

Ricky Pearsall is a sure-handed and talented route runner who can win at all three levels of the field. He just can't catch a break. After recovering from a gunshot wound that kept him out for most of his rookie year, last spring he pulled his hamstring, which lingered into the start of the season.

At the end of September last year, he sprained his PCL, reaggravating it twice in December after he returned to the lineup. When he's on the field, he has a weekly WR2 ceiling. If he remains healthy in 2026, he may be able to retain the WR2 role. If not, Stribling has the talent to surpass him on the depth chart.

The 49ers signed veteran WR Christian Kirk to a one-year $3M deal. Kirk will bring stability to the WR room if Evans or Pearsall get injured and Stribling isn't ready to step up.

Kittle's Achilles & the Tonges Bet

George Kittle tore his Achilles in January of this year. Players returning from Achilles injuries the season following a tear are a shell of their former selves. Kittle is a physical freak, so we can't entirely count him out. He's made it known his goal is to play in week one. I would bet against that. He is on my do-not-draft list for 2026.

TE Jake Tonges signed a two-year $8M deal to remain a 49er. This deal is also heavily incentivized. In 2026 or 2027, if Tonges plays more than 75 percent of snaps and has more than 60 catches going over 600 receiving yards, he will earn $1.5M of his reported contract. There's also a bonus option worth $2.2M in 2027.

This contract is the epitome of reading the tea leaves when it comes to projecting George Kittle's 2026 fantasy value. Jake Tonges is undervalued in all fantasy formats. If you find your team underwhelming in the TE department, look to acquire Jake Tonges for 2026.

McCaffrey & the Backfield

Christian McCaffrey saw the most volume of his entire career in 2025 with 311 rush attempts and 129 targets. He should be heavily involved in the offense again in 2026, but may see slight regression. He's still a locked-and-loaded RB1 in 2026. What you see is what you get (WYSIWYG). McCaffrey is worth the price you pay to play him in your lineup.

Another shock in the draft came when the 49ers selected RB Kaelon Black at the end of Day Two.

Black had plenty of top 30 visits with NFL teams before the draft. He was consistent during every Senior Bowl scrimmage I watched, and when I reviewed the 400+ pieces of film I recorded, I came away impressed with Black's game.

Black was a part of Indiana's national title team last year, rushing for over 1,000 yards and 10 TDs. Black is an older prospect at 25, but reports from camp have been positive. George Kittle spoke this offseason glowingly when asked about Kaleon Black.

George Kittle talks about his first impression of 49ers rookie RB Kaelon Black: "Very fast."

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— Cameron White (@whiteheatff.bsky.social) June 6, 2026 at 12:04 PM

McCaffrey Handcuff Options

Black, Isaac Guerendo, and Jordan James will compete to back up McCaffrey in San Francisco. The 49ers have a habit of drafting a new RB every year, and it's difficult to project who will be the RB that steps up if McCaffrey were to get injured and miss a game. If you're handcuffing McCaffrey, I'd let rookie fever sway me in Black's direction.

I like what I saw in Mobile, and there has only been positive news about Black's stock since January.

Brock Purdy, an Undervalued QB1

A turf toe injury derailed QB Brock Purdy's chances to finish as a QB1 in 2025. When healthy, Purdy was electric for fantasy, averaging nearly 21ppg. Per the Optimus Play-by-Play Analysis tool, Purdy had the third-best Expected Points Added (EPA) per play in 2026 amongst QBs who played 100 or more snaps. He's currently valued as a back-end QB1, but with the upgrades of Evans and Stribling, he could flirt with a top-five season.

QB Mac Jones will be a free agent in 2027. This is for the dynasty managers reading the tea leaves. The 49ers were asking for a premium when teams inquired about trading for Jones this offseason. While the 2027 QB class is projected to be great, it's likely that we see Jones starting for an NFL team in 2027 after two solid seasons stepping in to play QB for the Jaguars in 2024 and 49ers in 2025.

Stash Jones on your bench and cash in on him as his value grows once fantasy managers realize he will likely be a starting QB next season.

Fantasy Fortunes

Aside from Kittle, every starting player on this offense is capable of putting up a top 12 season at this position. Purdy and Tonges are the easiest to acquire at their current price points. The WR room is deep enough for Purdy to overcome an Evans hamstring injury, whatever lurks around the corner for Pearsall next, Kittle underperforming expectations, and still have a QB1 season.

Tonges has TE1 upside, but is likely a high-end TE2. McCaffrey is set for another high-volume workload and will be an RB1 again in 2026, and several of his potential backups will likely be rostered throughout the season as fantasy teams hope to cash out on a San Francisco RB lotto ticket.

The 49ers are a team to target for 2026, where we can expect a QB1, RB1, a WR1 and two WR2-4s, and a TE2.

Cam White is a Senior Analyst & Host at Optimus Fantasy. You can find more of his work on our YouTube channel, and make sure to follow him on Bluesky.