https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/article/fantasy-football-bench-the-christian-mccaffrey-panic-after-rb-sees-elite-usage-in-week-1-233227091.html
On Friday in Week 1, the San Francisco 49ers added running back Christian McCaffrey to the injury report as questionable for their matchup versus the Seattle Seahawks. All this after CMC appeared to be healthy and ready to go for the 2025 NFL regular season. Fantasy managers and the community gave a collective, “Here we go again …”
But despite being added to the injury report, McCaffrey was deemed good to go and active on Sunday. And boy, did he not disappoint. It looked like vintage CMC in the Niners’ 17-13 win over the Seahawks on the road. McCaffrey was back to his elite usage, finishing the game with over 30 total touches and 142 total yards — 22 carries for 69 yards and nine catches for 73 yards.
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It didn’t even matter that CMC didn’t find the end zone, as that’s what always made him great when he was making waves as the top RB in fantasy football. Might we see a return to that form in 2025? So far, so good.
It’s also worth noting the 49ers were dealing with a handful of injuries in the passing game. Tight end George Kittle exited in the first half against Seattle with a hamstring injury and didn’t return. Receiver Jauan Jennings would later hurt his shoulder and didn’t return. With receiving options dropping left and right, Kyle Shanahan continued to funnel the ball to McCaffrey. We could see more of that moving forward if San Francisco can’t get healthy.
Newly-acquired RB Brian Robinson Jr. was also involved all game. He was brought in as insurance, a high-grade backup who could spell McCaffrey. Well, at least that’s what we all thought. Robinson had 10 touches and that still didn’t put a dent in CMC’s usage.
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To put this usage in perspective, McCaffrey missed most of last season and his high for touches in a game was 23. Back in 2023, when he was RB1 overall in fantasy, the most touches McCaffrey had in a single regular-season game was 27. So, the last time we saw CMC have 30-plus touches in a game was back in December of 2022.
Let’s try not to get ahead of ourselves, and Shanahan will want to keep McCaffrey fresh for late in the season, but the early signs are pointing toward a return to the fantasy elite for the veteran star.
https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/article/fantasy-football-bench-the-christian-mccaffrey-panic-after-rb-sees-elite-usage-in-week-1-233227091.html
