Will Colin Kaepernick once again become fantasy relevant under Chip Kelly?
Chip Kelly has to be the most controversial coach in the NFL. There is a stigma that follows him wherever he goes. Rumors started to circulate that Kelly had coached his last game in the NFL after the Philadelphia Eagles fired him. The San Francisco 49ers then wasted no time picking Kelly up off the market.
The 49ers have been nothing but a train wreck ever since Jim Harbaugh was fired. Jim Tomsula had to fix the horrible hangover of a roster that remained. His task was to do essentially provide damage control, which he failed at achieving.
Enter FanDuel’s $1 Million Sunday Rush. $5 to enter with $100K to 1st place! 
The 49ers’ roster is a tough crowd to please. They basically ran Harbaugh out of town and didn’t respond to Tomsula the way everyone thought they would. It is tough to tell what kind of effect Kelly will have on them since he is labeled as being “toxic.”
One of Kelly’s top priorities is to get Colin Kaepernick back on track. He definitely has confidence issues after being benched not even halfway through the season. The 49ers took a huge gamble hiring Kelly, and it may pay dividends if it all works out.
It is well known that Kelly thinks very highly of Kaepernick and tried to acquire him before Sam Bradford during his time with the Eagles. Kaepernick has a lot of very similar qualities to Kelly’s former college quarterback, Marcus Mariota.
Bradford is anything but a mobile quarterback, yet he still managed to post solid totals in Kelly’s offense when healthy. Imagine what Kelly could do with a mobile quarterback who also has the ability to be a decent pocket passer.
Kaepernick needs to really improve his game. He has a cannon of an arm along with scary speed. All the tools are in place from him to run a Kelly-style offense. Kaepernick could really benefit from better wide receiver play, which should be an area of focus this offseason. Don’t be surprised if the 49ers draft a wide receiver with one of their top picks. Kelly spent the Eagles’ first-round pick on a WR (Nelson Agholor) last season.
If Kaepernick gets an explosive wide receiver, the sky is the limit for the 49ers. Kelly actually contacted the 49ers about their opening which means he really feels as if he could win. This is quite surprising given the fact that almost everyone else sees the team as a work in progress.
From a fantasy perspective, Kaepernick’s value is potentially going to go through the roof in the 2016 season. If Kelly decides to draft a wide receiver in the first round, times that value by two. Kaepernick is going to be a candidate for fantasy sleeper of the year under Kelly. As always, with the hype will come reaching for fantasy purposes. While it’s important to recognize value, it’s also important not to get carried away by the hype train as you prepare for your 2016 fantasy draft.
Anthony Sciarratta is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Anthony follow him on Twitter @ant_sciarratta.
