WR · SF · GWTTKB

Christian Kirk — fantasy football 2026

Every game, every stat category, and what the board says. 5.26 points per game in 2025, an ADP of 198.3, usage worth 8.8.

29 years old · 8 seasons of experience · 2018 draft class

Updated 2026-08-16 · free, no account, no paywall
Every figure below comes from our database. Where a stat is not held, the row is absent rather than zero.
ADP 198.3
Consensus across 3 books, standard deviation 38.1, 71.2 picks between cheapest and priciest. Cheapest on sleeper, priciest on espn.
SLEEPER241.7
ESPN170.5
UNDERDOG215.5
CBS182.8
FFA290

Draft-room facts

Goes aroundRound 17, pick 6 in a 12-team draft
Positional rankWR154
Bye week8
ADP standard deviation38.1 picks

What we project for 2026

Our board has him at 56.9 points, 3.5 per game — 24 catches, 293 yards, 0.6 TDs. That is WR6, 272 overall.

The range runs from a floor of 2.4 points per game to a ceiling of 5.1, with the median at 3.5. Boom rate 48%, bust rate 31%. The spread is the actual bet, not the middle number.

He goes at 198.3 on consensus and our board has him 272. We rank him 73.7 picks worse than the room drafts him. At that distance it is a fade: we do not want him anywhere near his ADP.

The offense he plays in, 2026

San Francisco 49ers returns 5 of 6 continuity slots, replacing wr1. Brock Purdy at quarterback, Kyle Shanahan as head coach, Klay Kubiak calling it. The offense projects to 33.7 pass attempts a game at high confidence and 27.7 rushes.

In: Mike Evans (wr1), De'Zhaun Stribling (wr2), Christian Kirk (wr4), Jacob Cowing (wr7), Kaelon Black (rb2). Out: Jauan Jennings (wr1), Kendrick Bourne (wr3), Brian Robinson Jr. (rb2).

His own projected target share for 2026 is 9.2%, with a bear case of 8.2% and a bull case of 11.8% and a full range of 4.3% to 12.8%. That comes from 29 historical comparables, not from a depth chart.

The projected target split across the offense:

De'Zhaun Stribling16.1%
Mike Evans11.8%
George Kittle11.5%
Ricky Pearsall10.4%
Christian Kirk 9.2%
Christian McCaffrey8.9%

Our written view on this offense in 2026

Key additions: Signed WR Mike Evans from Bucs in free agency. Signed WR Christian Kirk in free agency. Drafted WR De'Zhaun Stribling in the 2nd round from Ole Miss. Drafted RB Kaelon Black in the 3rd round.

Key departures: WR Brandon Aiyuk (who did not play all of 2025 due to injury) is gone. WR Jauan Jennings is also gone. He has functioned as 49ers WR 1/2 for the past two seasons. RB Brian Robinson Jr left to ATL in free agency.

Notes: Stribling round 2 has opportunity to break out early. Mike Evans signing in free agency. Should be alpha WR1 but aging & injury risk. Potential sell high but should produce in 2026. Drafted RB Kaelon Black round 3 from Indiana. Black was not even invited to the NFL combine, but 49ers LOVE him. Could assume RB2 role immediately if he beats out Jordan James. Ricky Pearsall has an opportunity to break out as a WR2 but needs to stay healthy enough to do so. Signed Christian Kirk in offseason, veteran with no fantasy value but will take away targets. Kittle recovering from torn achilles. Drafted Wills the TE. Tonges should function as primary TE2, Wills will be TE3. CMC is a potential sell high candidate but know if healthy he is the number 1 overall RB in 2026.

How the volume number was reached: Same QB Brock Purdy returning — anchor to 2025 actuals (33.7 att/g); Regressed 30% toward league mean 33.5, floored at 30 → 33.6 att/g.

How that share projection was built

29 historical comps for WRs age ~29, prior share 17.6%, team change, OC continuity. Distribution: median 9.1%, p25-p75 [7.2%, 14.0%], tails [0.0%, 15.9%]. Closest comps: Chris Moore 2022→2023 (HOU→TEN: 16.0%→8.6%); Sammy Watkins 2020→2021 (KC→BAL: 17.6%→14.0%); Anthony Miller 2020→2021 (CHI→HOU: 16.0%→17.2%).

arrival self-anchored 32% to own 17.6% role (2yr)

The named comps are the closest historical matches and the arrow is what their share actually did the following season. That is the working, not a summary of it — if you disagree with the projection, this is the part to argue with.

Offensive environment: SF rates 25.4 against a league average of 23, 2.4 points above it on opponent-adjusted least squares (multi-capture merge).

2026 schedule

Opponent-adjusted pass defense faced, against 2025 ratings. Positive is an easier slate.

Full season-2.6 · harder
Weeks 1–6+1.9 · easier
Weeks 12–17-8.4 · harder
Fantasy playoffs (15–17)-15.3 · harder

Read this narrowly. Our own testing found that season-long strength of schedule does not survive as a draft input — defensive quality is among the least stable team properties year to year, and a preseason slate is built on last year's identities. The playoff-weeks column is the only one we would let break a tie, and even then it is a tiebreaker rather than a reason. The finding.

What happened when he missed time

From the absence record rather than a depth chart — who actually gained when he was out.

SeasonGames missedMain beneficiaryTheir PPR gain
20254Braxton Berrios+4.9

Dynasty context not redraft

Everything in this section is about his dynasty trade value — what he is worth as a long-term asset in the trade market. It is not a forecast of his 2026 fantasy scoring. A player can be a fine redraft pick while his dynasty value falls, and the reverse. The redraft read is above; this is a different question with a different answer.

Where he sits in the dynasty value cycle

His dynasty value has moved -20.4% over the last twelve months. The market cycle classifies him as stable.

For context on how long this lasts at the position: the average career at his position produces 2.1 elite seasons and 2.6 startable seasons.

The five most similar seasons, and what their dynasty value did next

Matched on production profile — production-driven (pedigree ignored). The last column is how that player’s dynasty value moved the following year — a market outcome, not a scoring one.

PlayerSeasonTheir PPGSimilarityNext year
Tyler Boyd20245.274%-37.2%
Tyler Boyd20238.567%-35.2%
Curtis Samuel20244.666%-22.1%
Diontae Johnson20248.164%-53.6%
JuJu Smith-Schuster20244.864%+0.1%

Of the 5 with a following season on record, 0 gained value, 4 lost it and 1 held roughly flat.

Four years of dynasty value

02,0004,000202120222023202420252026
Monthly superflex value, 2020-04 to 2026-07. Down 58% across the series, peaking at 4,419.

The player

Draft capital and athletic profile

Drafted2018, round 2, pick 47 by ARI
CollegeTexas A&M
Age at draft21
Height5′10″
Weight201 lb
40-yard dash4.47s
Vertical35.5″
Broad jump115″
3-cone7.09s
Shuttle4.45s

Availability and volatility

Career PPR per game10.8
Week-to-week variation0.6
Boom rate19.7%
Bust rate32.8%
Games missed per season1
Injury historyGroin, Collarbone, Hamstring
Correlation between his posted line and his actual score0.35

That correlation is how closely the books’ posted line tracked what he actually scored, week to week. A higher number means the market has him figured out and there is less to exploit; a lower one means his weeks are harder to price.

Injury type matters more than games missed. Measured across our injury database, knee and foot returns stay below a player’s pre-injury baseline for all three of the first games back, while hamstring returns over-recover by the third.

The record, season by season

2025 · HOU · 11 games

His best game was Week 12 against BUF — 16.4 PPR on 6 targets and a 21.4% target share, in a game that finished 23-19. His worst was Week 18 against IND at 0.7, on 2 targets, final score 38-30. Across 11 games he cleared 20 points 0 times and came in under 8 points 9 times. In the 8 games decided by 8 points or fewer he averaged 5.1; in the 3 decided by more, 5.7. He scored more when the game was not close.

Earned against scored

His usage that season was worth 8.8 points per game. He scored 5.26, 15.8% below it. The engine classified the season as unlucky.

WkOppScorePPRRecTgtYdsTDTgt%Snap%
3JAX10-175.53825022.2%67%
4TEN26-053420014.3%61%
5BAL44-1010.44464012.9%49%
9DEN15-186.64826020.5%56%
10JAX36-291.313306.8%43%
11TEN16-131.6146010%51%
12BUF23-1916.45654121.4%32%
14KC20-101.6136011.1%36%
16LV23-216.73537014.7%62%
17LAC20-162.1251019.2%45%
18IND38-300.712-307.1%57%

Production

Receptions28
Targets52
Receiving yards239
Touchdowns1
Points per game5.26
Yards per target4.6
Catch rate53.85%

Role

Snap share50.82%
Target share14.56%
Air-yards share11.53%
WOPR0.299
RACR0.742

Efficiency

Average depth of target6.8
Yards after catch per reception4.1
Yards before catch per reception4.4
Total YAC115
Broken tackles1
Drop rate0%
Passer rating when targeted40.5
Receiving EPA per game-1.92

Scoring position

Red-zone targets9
Red-zone target share10.7%
End-zone target share11.8%
Expected receiving TDs2.77
Actual receiving TDs3
Receiving TD luck0.23

Who else ate

The offense threw it 582 times. He took 9.4% of the targets. 2 team-mates cleared the competing-target threshold.

Nico Collins21.7%
Dalton Schultz19.17%
Jayden Higgins12.3%
Xavier Hutchinson10.31%
Christian Kirk 9.4%
Woody Marks6.51%

By quarterback

He caught passes from 2 quarterbacks that season, and the splits are not close.

QBGamesTargetsPPGY/TTgt%
C.J. Stroud7314.574.8414.5%
Davis Mills4216.474.2414.67%

Blowouts against close games

2 of his 11 games were blowouts, 26.6% of his snaps coming in them. He averaged 7.7 in those and 5.11 in close games — a meaningful share of his scoring came with the game already decided.

2024 · JAX · 8 games

His best game was Week 4 against HOU — 19.1 PPR on 12 targets and a 37.5% target share, in a game that finished 20-24. His worst was Week 2 against CLE at 0.9, on 3 targets, final score 13-18. Across 8 games he cleared 20 points 0 times and came in under 8 points 5 times. In the 5 games decided by 8 points or fewer he averaged 8.9; in the 3 decided by more, 8.7. He scored more when the game was live.

Earned against scored

His usage that season was worth 10.4 points per game. He scored 8.86, 14.9% below it. The engine classified the season as unlucky.

WkOppScorePPRRecTgtYdsTDTgt%Snap%
1MIA17-2041430021.1%72%
2CLE13-180.913-1011.1%88%
3BUF10-4715.981079022.7%73%
4HOU20-2419.171261137.5%78%
5IND37-3412.84488011.8%53%
6CHI16-356.93639017.1%74%
7NE32-163.41324015%57%
8GB27-307.92559016.7%65%

Production

Receptions27
Targets47
Receiving yards379
Touchdowns1
Points per game8.86
Yards per target8.06
Catch rate57.45%

Role

Snap share70%
Target share19.13%
Air-yards share28.44%
WOPR0.485
RACR0.66

Efficiency

Average depth of target13.7
Yards after catch per reception4.2
Yards before catch per reception9.9
Total YAC113
Broken tackles1
Drop rate0%
Passer rating when targeted72.9
Receiving EPA per game1.05

Scoring position

Red-zone targets5
Red-zone target share7.9%
End-zone target share8.8%
Expected receiving TDs1.56
Actual receiving TDs1
Receiving TD luck-0.56

Who else ate

The offense threw it 546 times. He took 9% of the targets. 1 team-mate cleared the competing-target threshold.

Brian Thomas25.48%
Evan Engram12.26%
Brenton Strange10.15%
Travis Etienne9.96%
Parker Washington9.77%
Christian Kirk 9%

Blowouts against close games

2 of his 8 games were blowouts, 32.2% of his snaps coming in them. He averaged 11.4 in those and 8.94 in close games — a meaningful share of his scoring came with the game already decided.

2023 · JAX · 12 games

His best game was Week 2 against KC — 21.96 PPR on 14 targets and a 34.1% target share, in a game that finished 9-17. His worst was Week 1 against IND at 1.9, on 3 targets, final score 31-21. Across 12 games he cleared 20 points 1 time and came in under 8 points 3 times. In the 5 games decided by 8 points or fewer he averaged 14.4; in the 7 decided by more, 11.2. He scored more when the game was live.

Earned against scored

His usage that season was worth 12.2 points per game. He scored 12.52, 2.8% above it. The engine classified the season as neutral. On receiving touchdowns specifically he finished 0 against 1.1 expected, a gap of -1.1.

WkOppScorePPRRecTgtYdsTDTgt%Snap%
1IND31-211.913909.4%60%
2KC9-1721.961114110034.1%81%
3HOU17-3715.44654115%86%
4ATL23-716.481284040%79%
5BUF25-2014.46878021.6%83%
6IND37-2013.93649121.4%70%
7NO31-24196690120%80%
8PIT20-108.64546015.6%66%
10SF3-3414.4611104035.5%89%
11TEN34-147.83648019.4%76%
12HOU24-2112.94789018.9%76%
13CIN31-343.6112602.6%1%

Production

Receptions57
Targets85
Receiving yards787
Carries1
Rushing yards6
Touchdowns3
Points per game12.52
Yards per target9.26
Catch rate67.06%
Yards per carry6

Role

Snap share70.58%
Target share21.13%
Air-yards share28.52%
WOPR0.518
RACR0.985

Efficiency

Average depth of target9.9
Yards after catch per reception4.3
Yards before catch per reception9.5
Total YAC247
Broken tackles3
Drop rate0%
Passer rating when targeted98.5
Receiving EPA per game1.95
Rushing EPA per game-0.05

Scoring position

Red-zone targets6
Red-zone target share9%
End-zone target share7.5%
Expected receiving TDs1.1
Actual receiving TDs0
Receiving TD luck-1.1

Where that ranked

Against everyone in the 80+ targets pool that season:

Points per game32 of 51
Yards per target14 of 51
Target share34 of 51
Air-yards share32 of 51

Who else ate

The offense threw it 619 times. He took 14% of the targets. 2 team-mates cleared the competing-target threshold.

Evan Engram23.56%
Calvin Ridley22.41%
Christian Kirk 14%
Travis Etienne12.03%
Zay Jones10.54%
Jamal Agnew3.46%

Blowouts against close games

4 of his 12 games were blowouts, 34.3% of his snaps coming in them. He averaged 12.88 in those and 14.37 in close games — his scoring did not depend on garbage time.

2022 · JAX · 17 games

His best game was Week 10 against KC — 31.5 PPR on 12 targets and a 30.8% target share, in a game that finished 17-27. His worst was Week 5 against HOU at 2.1, on 3 targets, final score 6-13. Across 17 games he cleared 20 points 4 times and came in under 8 points 4 times. In the 10 games decided by 8 points or fewer he averaged 13; in the 7 decided by more, 16. He scored more when the game was not close.

Earned against scored

His usage that season was worth 14.5 points per game. He scored 14.23, 3.9% above it. The engine classified the season as neutral. On receiving touchdowns specifically he finished 9 against 6.47 expected, a gap of 2.5.

WkOppScorePPRRecTgtYdsTDTgt%Snap%
1WAS22-2817.7612117031.6%91%
2IND24-025.86678220%90%
3LAC38-1019.26972123.7%92%
4PHI21-298.32960039.1%94%
5HOU6-132.1131106.8%96%
6IND27-3410.84524122.7%92%
7NYG17-2317.171096023.3%94%
8DEN17-2173740025%78%
9LV27-2021.68976131%75%
10KC17-2731.5912105230.8%92%
12BAL28-278.14946024.3%90%
13DET14-4016.468104024.2%86%
14TEN36-229.55745016.7%85%
15DAL40-3415.261092024.4%89%
16NYJ19-35.63622020%81%
17HOU31-34.12321010.7%83%
18TEN20-1621.96899127.6%96%

Production

Receptions84
Targets133
Receiving yards1,108
Carries5
Rushing yards11
Touchdowns8
Points per game14.23
Yards per target8.33
Catch rate63.16%
Yards per carry2.2

Role

Snap share88.47%
Target share23.64%
Air-yards share27.88%
WOPR0.55
RACR0.979

Efficiency

Average depth of target9.1
Yards after catch per reception4.4
Yards before catch per reception8.8
Total YAC371
Broken tackles5
Drop rate0.1%
Passer rating when targeted96.9
Receiving EPA per game1.88
Rushing EPA per game-0.05

Scoring position

Red-zone targets25
Red-zone target share28.1%
End-zone target share27.9%
Expected receiving TDs6.47
Actual receiving TDs9
Receiving TD luck2.53

Where that ranked

Against everyone in the 80+ targets pool that season:

Points per game19 of 51
Yards per target26 of 51
Target share22 of 51
Air-yards share31 of 51

Who else ate

The offense threw it 596 times. He took 23.17% of the targets. 2 team-mates cleared the competing-target threshold.

Christian Kirk 23.17%
Zay Jones21.08%
Evan Engram17.07%
Marvin Jones14.11%
Travis Etienne7.84%
Jamal Agnew5.23%

Blowouts against close games

4 of his 17 games were blowouts, 27.1% of his snaps coming in them. He averaged 16.38 in those and 12.98 in close games — a meaningful share of his scoring came with the game already decided.

2021 · ARI · 17 games

His best game was Week 15 against DET — 24.4 PPR on 12 targets and a 25% target share, in a game that finished 12-30. His worst was Week 13 against CHI at 1.4, on 3 targets, final score 33-22. Across 17 games he cleared 20 points 2 times and came in under 8 points 4 times. In the 7 games decided by 8 points or fewer he averaged 10.2; in the 10 decided by more, 13.6. He scored more when the game was not close.

Earned against scored

His usage that season was worth 11 points per game. He scored 12.21, 10.7% above it. The engine classified the season as lucky.

WkOppScorePPRRecTgtYdsTDTgt%Snap%
1TEN38-13245570215.6%57%
2MIN34-339.53465011.8%62%
3JAX31-1917.478104023.5%57%
4LA37-201.511503.4%72%
5SF17-10105539017.9%54%
6CLE37-1418.55875128.6%85%
7HOU31-5154550117.9%72%
8GB21-248.64646019.4%78%
9SF31-1716.426691023.1%96%
10CAR10-3412.87858027.6%85%
11SEA23-134.52525011.4%73%
13CHI33-221.4134020%60%
14LA23-3011.63686012.2%74%
15DET12-3024.491294125%96%
16IND16-2211.87948023.1%85%
17DAL25-2213.96979024.3%90%
18SEA30-386.3234307.7%89%

Production

Receptions77
Targets103
Receiving yards982
Carries1
Rushing yards11
Touchdowns5
Points per game12.21
Yards per target9.53
Catch rate74.76%
Yards per carry11

Role

Snap share75.59%
Target share18.38%
Air-yards share27.14%
WOPR0.465
RACR0.884

Efficiency

Average depth of target11.6
Yards after catch per reception3
Yards before catch per reception9.8
Total YAC228
Broken tackles1
Drop rate0.1%
Passer rating when targeted112.2
Receiving EPA per game3.01
Rushing EPA per game0.04

Scoring position

Red-zone targets10
Red-zone target share11.8%
End-zone target share15.8%
Expected receiving TDs2.85
Actual receiving TDs2
Receiving TD luck-0.85

Where that ranked

Against everyone in the 80+ targets pool that season:

Points per game30 of 48
Yards per target8 of 48
Target share37 of 48
Air-yards share28 of 48

Who else ate

The offense threw it 590 times. He took 18.07% of the targets. 1 team-mate cleared the competing-target threshold.

Christian Kirk 18.07%
A.J. Green16.14%
Zach Ertz14.21%
DeAndre Hopkins11.23%
Rondale Moore11.23%
Chase Edmonds9.3%

By quarterback

He caught passes from 2 quarterbacks that season, and the splits are not close.

QBGamesTargetsPPGY/TTgt%
Kyler Murray148412.429.6217.89%
Colt McCoy31911.249.1620.7%

Blowouts against close games

6 of his 17 games were blowouts, 46.3% of his snaps coming in them. He averaged 16.03 in those and 10.24 in close games — a meaningful share of his scoring came with the game already decided.

2020 · ARI · 14 games

His best game was Week 9 against MIA — 23.3 PPR on 8 targets and a 30.8% target share, in a game that finished 31-34. His worst was Week 1 against SF at 1, on 5 targets, final score 24-20. Across 14 games he cleared 20 points 3 times and came in under 8 points 6 times. In the 8 games decided by 8 points or fewer he averaged 10.8; in the 6 decided by more, 10. He scored more when the game was live.

Earned against scored

His usage that season was worth 10.2 points per game. He scored 10.46, 2.8% above it. The engine classified the season as neutral.

WkOppScorePPRRecTgtYdsTDTgt%Snap%
1SF24-201150013.5%77%
2WAS30-1582457011.8%61%
4CAR21-3110.93519116.1%63%
5NYJ30-1012.85778020%58%
6DAL38-1022.62386213.6%81%
7SEA37-3420.75837218.2%79%
9MIA31-3423.358123130.8%64%
10BUF32-306.74627018.8%74%
11SEA21-2894650015.4%91%
12NE17-204.93619017.6%86%
13LA28-381.213208.3%94%
14NYG26-74.43414012.5%84%
15PHI33-266.33433010.8%85%
16SF12-2014.671076021.7%83%

Production

Receptions48
Targets79
Receiving yards621
Carries2
Rushing yards3
Touchdowns6
Points per game10.46
Yards per target7.86
Catch rate60.76%
Yards per carry1.5

Role

Snap share77.14%
Target share16.36%
Air-yards share23.9%
WOPR0.413
RACR0.882

Efficiency

Average depth of target11.8
Yards after catch per reception3.6
Yards before catch per reception9.3
Total YAC175
Broken tackles1
Drop rate0%
Passer rating when targeted95
Receiving EPA per game0.8
Rushing EPA per game0.13

Scoring position

Red-zone targets14
Red-zone target share20.3%
End-zone target share27.6%
Expected receiving TDs4.25
Actual receiving TDs4
Receiving TD luck-0.25

Who else ate

The offense threw it 574 times. He took 14.52% of the targets. 1 team-mate cleared the competing-target threshold.

DeAndre Hopkins29.41%
Christian Kirk 14.52%
Larry Fitzgerald13.24%
Chase Edmonds12.32%
Dan Arnold8.27%
Andy Isabella6.43%

Blowouts against close games

3 of his 14 games were blowouts, 27.2% of his snaps coming in them. He averaged 13.27 in those and 10.81 in close games — a meaningful share of his scoring came with the game already decided.

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