The San Francisco 49ers transformed their franchise prior to the trade deadline in 2022 with a blockbuster deal to acquire Christian McCaffrey. After mixing and matching running backs for years, McCaffrey has brought stability to the 49ers’ running game since his arrival.
In 2023, McCaffrey became the first 49ers running back since Frank Gore in 2014 to rush for more than 1,000 yards. He authored a dominant season that put him in the MVP conversation and earned his way to the consensus top pick in fantasy drafts. With the ultimate investment that comes with the first overall pick, in many cases fantasy managers opt to use their last running back selection on the No. 1 guy’s backup. In San Francisco, that’s a dicey option.
This situation is especially importing given a calf injury has McCaffrey, fantasy’s consensus top pick, set to miss the entire preseason.
