Rotobahn

This was not the most exciting game we watched last week ... that’s for sure. The line of scrimmage was won by the defenses, which always leads to an ugly fantasy day. 

The biggest story of the game was Vernon Davis, who was very active and productive, and he didn’t even score. This player is being held back by his offense. We’d love to see VD with a good quarterback; he’d be a monster. Heck, we’re excited to see what happens if and when coach Harbaugh gives Colin Kaepernick a chance. It’s quite possible that the younger stronger armed QB could “unlock” Davis and release him from fantasy purgatory.

Alex Smith just isn’t an NFL starter. We harped on this all of last year and nothing has changed. He’s competent, but he misses too many open men and can’t make enough of the throws you need to make to keep NFL defenses honest. That being said, he did battle and you have to respect the guy as he takes a lot of hits back there.

One play that many may have missed was a very acrobatic score by Michael Crabtree. It was called back, but it showed off the kind of athleticism he is known for when he is healthy. He may be close to making consistent contributions.

The other big story, as we see it, was the continued emergence of Kendall Hunter. Obviously, Frank Gore is the man as long as he is 100%, but we see a role for Hunter and we see very big things for him should Gore go down for any length of time. As we’ve been saying, KH is a mandatory handcuff if you own Gore. The rookie showed off his explosion on several plays and scored the game's only touchdown. And, don’t let his paltry YPC fool you. He took three vanilla clock-killing carries to close the game. He looked explosive and dangerous. Gore suffered an ankle injury in the second half and his status for week four is unclear.

For the Bengals, they had trouble all day with the 49er front four and they struggled to complete passes. The one player who looked very good was tight end Jermaine Gresham, who caught four balls for 51 yards. This guy is going to have a good second half. You can see him getting better and gaining confidence each week.

Cedric Benson ran hard, but he had little room. It now sounds as if Benson’s suspension will be put off one more week, and so will Bernard Scott’s increased value.

Andy Dalton struggled, but he was under duress most of the game. He’s still a player that we are impressed with, as is AJ Green.  Green had a rough day as he struggled to get off the line and was whistled for several false starts.  Typical rookie stuff.  He is going to be a monster in time.   Andre Caldwell did nothing spectacular, but he was the Bengals' most productive receiver and he could be a guy to target in large leagues with Jordan Shipley done for 2011, and with Jerome Simpson potentially in legal trouble.