Team news: San Francisco 49ers | Page 9

Kyle Shanahan was firm about Brian Robinson's expected role after San Francisco sent a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Washington Commanders for him last week.

"We brought him here to be our [No.] 2 back," Shanahan said. "I've always been a big fan of Brian. Loved him coming out of college. ... We were pumped that he was available and pumped that we were able to get him."

In 2024, Robinson was third in the league on a third or fourth down of 3 or fewer yards (7.8 yards per carry), though the sample size was just 14 attempts.
Christian McCaffrey will remain the focal point of San Francisco's running game, but Robinson provides an experienced backup who could offer some value in short-yardage situations.

Related players: Isaac Guerendo

The story said the 49ers were 18th in the league in short-yardage situations, averaging 3.2 yards per rush. The story went on to say Guerendo has struggled to stay healthy. Though he just got back from a shoulder injury, he had a pair of fumbles in a recent practice and is more likely to have an early-season spot on various special teams units.

Trade: Commanders are trading RB Brian Robinson to the 49ers in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick, sources tell ESPN.

Related Players: Austin Ekeler, Jacory Crosky-Merritt, Christian McCaffrey, Isaac Guerendo

This is awful news for Guerendo drafters, but with all the injuries to the 49ers' running back room, they needed a dependable body in the room. This dings McCaffrey a little bit, but his passing-game involvement should be enough to secure another top-10 (or higher finish), while Robinson will pick up most of the slack and deliver as a FLEX play in tough weeks.

Back in Washington, Crosky-Merritt should be boosted out of low-end RB4 territory into an RB3 while Ekeler has some sneaky upside to finish in the same range.

Sources: Buccaneers plan to activate WR Chris Godwin off the Physically Unable to Perform list and have him on their 53-man roster to start the season, but only to begin his ramp-up process for games, not to immediately play in them. Godwin still is unlikely to play until October as he continues recovering from the fractured ankle he suffered in Week 7 vs. the Ravens last season. He is expected to start practicing in Week 2, but the team thinks he is right where he should be at this time and is pleased with his recovery.

Related Players: Mike Evans, Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan

Great news for Godwin's 2025 outlook but it doesn't sound like we'll be in a position to start up at the beginning of the season as he ramps up. Evans and Egbuka, in general, will be great early-season targets, and Cade Otton should be on streaming radar for drafters who missed out on the TE position.

Trade! The Chiefs send Skyy Moore to the 49ers. The teams will swap sixth- and seventh-round picks in 2027.

Related Players: Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, Rashee Rice, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Jalen Royals, Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, Jordan Watkins, Demarcus Robinson, Brandon Aiyuk

Both of these teams are dealing with wide receiver issues/injuries, so maybe this points toward good news for Worthy and Brown, who have been dinged up this summer, and/or Rice receiving a shorter suspension than initially thought.

Moore will benefit a 49ers room that is dealing with bad injury luck themselves, including Jennings' calf, Watkins' ankle, and Robinson's three-game suspension. Moore can be left on waiver wires in all but the deepest Dynasty leagues.

49ers WR Demarcus Robinson has been suspended three games for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, HC Kyle Shanahan told @KNBR.

Related Players: Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall, Jacob Cowing, George Kittle

This is almost assuredly going to be the Jennings-Pearsall-Kittle show, with ample Christian McCaffrey sprinkled in, at least until Brandon Aiyuk comes back into the picture. They are all easy targets at their current ADPs, and Pearsall might get a little bit extra while Robinson is sidelined.

RB Isaac Guerendo returned to practice and had an active day. So as Patrick Taylor and Corey Kiner exit due to injuries, Guerendo comes back.

Related players: Christian McCaffrey, Jordan James, Jeff Wilson

It's always news when a potential CMC handcuff is back on the field. Guerendo missed time with a shoulder injury and the rookie James is still out, so Guerendo could secure his RB2 role behind McCaffrey, who has looked good and close to his 2023 form so far in camp, according to reports. Still, those owning CMC likely want to have protection - just in case. Guerendo proved he can do the job last season.

The pecking order for Texans WRs as of right now.
Nico Collins and Christian Kirk got the two top spots.
Xavier Hutchinson appears to be the next guy up. But Jayden Higgins will rotate in there.
Same with Jaylin Noel.

The top-two names aren't really a surprise, but it gets interesting seeing Hutchinson's name mentioned as the team's WR3, a spot many assumed would go to Higgins. We reported a few weeks ago that Noel was a quality WR for the team, but there just wasn't a spot for him in the lineup, and that seems to remain the case. This could be a situation to keep an eye on, especially if Hutchinson continues to be mentioned as the WR3. It's hard to believe Higgins won't be among the team's top-three WRs at some point sooner than later.

Jalen McMillan will be placed on injured reserve after suffering a “severely sprained neck,” against the Steelers and could be out past the Bucs Week 9 bye week, the Times has learned.

Related players: Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka, Sterling Shepard, Trey Palmer

This is a bit of an update from our previous item about McMillan. The post went on to say the team still feels fortunate the injury wasn’t worse and that they have depth at WR starting with Evans and Egbuka. Godwin will eventually return from a dislocated ankle, the story pointed out. Egbuka is likely pressed into a high-impact role from the start for the Bucs. Shepard and Palmer are a couple of other names to keep an eye on in this offense, especially if Godwin isn't able to start the start the season on the active roster.

The Buccaneers have not activated Chris Godwin from the physically unable to perform list yet and head coach Todd Bowles announced on Tuesday that they will definitely be missing another wideout for the start of the regular season.

Bowles said at a press conference that Jalen McMillan has a severe neck strain and that he will not be ready to play for the team’s Week 1 game against the Falcons.

Related players: Mike Evans, Emeka Egbuka

Bowles did not say how much more time McMillan will miss. If he goes on injured reserve, he will have to miss four games before being eligible to return of, course. As the story pointed out, with McMillan out and Godwin questionable at best, the Bucs will likely be giving first-round pick Egbuka a sizable role alongside Evans at wideout to kick off the year. Egbuka has looked good with all the chances he's getting in camp, according to reports, and may be able to secure a more permanent role in the offense at this rate.

Christian McCaffrey … if he’s not back to his 2023 form, he’s pretty close to it.

The story was part of a mailbag of questions and the author added that McCaffrey should be heavily involved in the passing game, which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone considering the injuries they are dealing with at WR. CMC hasn't really been in the news as of late, so it's at least nice to get an update that he's nearly back to his old form. We still rank McCaffrey sixth among our RBs, but the bigger questions for fantasy owners is his injury risk worth his upside when it comes to your first round pick.