You really have to feel badly for Gore, a superstar player on such a sub-par team, as he has succeeded in spite of the lack of talent around him. Unfortunately, he’ll never his reach full potential as long as San Francisco struggles to produce a decent passing game that won’t give opposing defenses the luxury of stacking eight men in the box against Gore on a consistent basis. That won’t change this season, either.
('09 Proj: 250 att, 1,100 yds, 5 touchdowns) ~Frank Mazzola
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After four seasons it may be time to admit that Gore is a “good but may never be great” fantasy running back. Even in 2006 when he put up almost 1,700 yards rushing he only managed to find the end zone eight times. He adds value as a receiver but only averages a receiving touchdown once every 43 career receptions, coincidentally the same number of carries it takes for him to find the end zone rushing by the way. He’s solid but cannot be considered a number one fantasy back at this time.
('09 Proj: 258 att, 1,100 yds, 6 touchdowns, 47 rec, 385 yds, 1 touchdown) ~Robb Perkins
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Should have close to 20 touches per game with reps at the goal line, and that's enough to be a No. 1 Fantasy RB worth a top pick between sixth and 10th overall.
('09 Proj: 1,450 total yds 12 touchdowns) ~Dave Fosdick
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If Gore can stay healthy, he should have a monster 2009. New coach Mike Singletary is from the old school. He’ll run it, run it and then run it some more. Right down your throat. The Niners also resigned fullback Moran Norris, who was the fullback when Gore went for almost 1,700 yards in 2006.
('09 Proj: 275 att, 1,800 total yds, 11 touchdowns) ~Jeremy Fischer
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Started out strong in 2008, and finished with over 1,000 yards despite missing two games late in the season. This year, everything suggests that 49ers coach Mike Singletary would like to become more run-oriented, and of course, the biggest beneficiary would be Gore. Gore is an able pass catcher, so his value goes up in PPR leagues too. Makes a great pick at the end of the first round, and your “karma” factor takes a positive spin upwards, as you can never have enough former Hurricanes on your squad.
('09 Proj: 1,600 total yds, 9 touchdowns) ~Jon Rascon
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While not on par with the likes of Steven Jackson or Larry Johnson, Gore has been a source of frustration for his fantasy owners over the past two seasons. Generally drafted in the first round, Gore has been unable to match the heights of his 2006 season. Unlike Jackson and Johnson however, Gore’s issues have been consistency. Unable to muster any form of respectable passing game despite their greatest efforts, the 49ers chose to spread the field anyway, leaving Gore without much backfield support. In what is perhaps the underrated move of the offseason, San Francisco decided to bring back powerful fullback Moran Norris, the player who cleared lanes for Gore during his 2006 season, indicating coach Mike Singletary’s desire to run first, second and third. As much as a projected late-first/early-second round pick can be called such, Gore is a sleeper.
('09 Proj: 280 att, 1,800 total yds, 11 touchdowns) ~Stan Feldman
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Had over 1,000 yards rushing for the third straight campaign. Even in what was considered a down year for Gore, he had over 1,400 all purpose yards and 8 touchdowns. Expect a rebound year in San Fran for Gore as he is still only 25 years of age.
('09 Proj: 1,700 total yds, 10 touchdowns) ~Stave Cavanagh
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Pain in the ass to pigeon-hole. First, I'm a semi-frustrated long term owner in my home dynasty league. That doesn't help my clarity. But putting that aside, from what I saw last year the O-line didn't do him any favors. In fact, in our '08 O-line analysis we'll be publishing this week my friend Chris Graley did some number crunching and arrived at SanFran's ranking of 25th. Not surprising to me as they really struggled to get any movement off the line at times. Yet another borderline #1 RB that could rise or fall on the whims of the 9er's 2009 draft boards. I agree with the thoughts above that Singletary can't be happy with Gore's 240 attempts last year and would like to target him for 280-290.
('09 Proj: 270 att, 1,700 total yds, 9 touchdowns) ~Rick Perkins