Raheem Mostert Injury Update Improves Fantasy Value in NFC Championship Game Against Packers

Raheem Mostert had seemingly grabbed control of the San Francisco 49ers' backfield, but the NFC Divisional Round Game told a different story. Tevin Coleman handled 22 carries to Mostert's 11.

Some of that disparity is due to the fact that Mostert went down with a calf injury once the 49ers were ahead of the Minnesota Vikings, 27-10. While that is a bit of a concern for his value going forward, it appears Mostert will be good to go for the NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers.

Kyle Shanahan says #49ers RB Raheem Mostert’s calf injury won’t factor into this week. He should be fine for Sunday.
— Chris Biderman (@ChrisBiderman) January 13, 2020

Raheem Mostert Fantasy Outlook

The injury update is certainly a positive for Mostert, but the re-emergence of Coleman really clouds his fantasy outlook.

From Week 13-17, Coleman only played more than 30 percent of the snaps on one occasion (Week 16, 42 percent). In the 49ers' first playoff game, however, Coleman saw 46 percent of the snaps – the most he's seen since Week 12. Of course, Coleman's usage is a bit inflated because of the injury to Mostert, but he handled the increased role well, rushing for 105 yards on 22 carries.

"The 49ers check all the boxes... This team has so many elements of an '85 Bears look. They just knock you out. You are humiliated." — @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/OpJapbyQNb
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 13, 2020

This San Francisco backfield is a mess for fantasy purposes, as Matt Breida got in the mix on 17 percent of the snaps, and even Deebo Samuel is a threat in the run game, tallying at least one carry in six consecutive weeks.

Accounting for the injury, Coleman checks in at RB3 in our Championship Round fantasy rankings, while Mostert isn't too far behind (RB5), and even Breida cracks our top 8, checking in at RB7. With the options being limited, it'll be hard to avoid this backfield, but it's difficult to know which RB to trust.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.