Chasing lightning is almost never a smart move in fantasy football. The same reason why spending all of your FAAB money on Kevin Ogletree after Week 1 of the 2012 season was foolish is why we have to ask questions about San Francisco 49ers inside linebacker Nick Bellore.
Bellore earned a whopping 11 total tackles in last week’s game, which put him smack-dab in the middle of the IDP landscape, but his production is actually sustainable. He’s taken over for injured starter Navorro Bowman and is already doing a great job of it, as he played 100 percent of the team’s Week 5 snaps with a 16 percent tackle rate. In fact, the 49ers are using him in the exact same way they deployed Bowman, allowing him to also blitz from the middle; he earned a half-sack and a stuff from this usage in Week 5.
Bellore should be able to easily add to his resume in Week 6, with the Buffalo Bills on the docket. The same reasons we like Quinton Dial’s run-stuffing chances also lead us to recommend Bellore. Plus, with the Bills giving up the 10th-highest sack rate in the league, there’s a chance Bellore earns big plays in two phases of the game.
Bellore is available in 100.0% of ESPN IDP leagues, and we project him for 5.58 tackles, 0.18 sacks, 0.10 passes defended, and a total score of 6.58 fantasy points in Week 6.