Sleeper Watch

For now, Kevan Barlow remains the starter in San Francisco, but if he doesn’t improve on the 3.4 yards per carry he posted in 2004, he might find himself on a very short leash. Should the team lose patience with Barlow, rookie Frank Gore would presumably be first in line to carry the ball for the Niners.

After raising fantasy owners’ hopes with a 2003 season in which he rushed for 1024 yards despite splitting carries with Garrison Hearst, Barlow turned out to be a huge disappointment last year, with many citing his poor performance as one of the prime causes of the team’s struggles on offense (not to mention the struggles of those fantasy teams who drafted him in the opening rounds). That blame may or may not be justified, but one thing is certain: the 49ers won’t be as patient this year as they were in 2004.

Should Gore, a hard-nosed inside runner, wind up replacing Barlow, he’ll have his work cut out for him. San Francisco is in rebuilding mode, with a rookie quarterback at the helm of an offense with question marks everywhere you look. Even if he does get the chance to start, Gore will be a gamble. But in deep leagues where running backs are scarce, that’s the kind of gamble that winds up working out nicely every once in a while.