Fantasy Football Impact: Christian McCaffrey Traded to 49ers

Christian McCaffrey was already a dominant force in fantasy football and may have just gotten better with the move out of Carolina.

The fantasy football world has its first blockbuster move before the NFL trade deadline, as the Panthers have sent superstar running back Christian McCaffrey to the 49ers. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, San Francisco sent their 2023 second, third, and fourth-round picks and a fifth-rounder in 2024 to Carolina to acquire McCaffrey.

The move has fantasy implications for several players, but let’s start with McCaffrey. His value won’t change a ton as he’ll remain a top-three running back in fantasy football, but playing in a Kyle Shanahan offense is an exciting thought for fans. His system has always been running back friendly, so McCaffrey should shine.

Of course, adding CMC means the value of Jeff Wilson Jr., Elijah Mitchell and any other Niners runner takes a major blow. Whether or not McCaffrey plays for his new team in Week 7 against the Chiefs remains to be seen (but we hope so), so I wouldn’t bench Wilson just yet. He could be a serviceable RB2/flex if CMC is held out. But either way, Wilson’s time as the top running back in Shanahan’s offense is coming to an end.

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As for the Carolina backfield, adding D’Onta Foreman wherever he’s available is the wise move. While he will share some of the workload with Chuba Hubbard, Foreman is a more explosive back. He also played more snaps than Hubbard last weekend, which might be an indication that he’s the favorite to see more work. Hubbard is worth a look in deeper leagues in case coach Steve Wilks goes with a hot-hand approach, but I’m looking at Foreman as the more attractive option for fantasy managers.

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨

The Carolina Panthers are trading Pro-Bowl RB Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for draft picks, per @AdamSchefter pic.twitter.com/mY6e50dJPW

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 21, 2022

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Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on Sports Illustrated and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. Click here to read all his articles here on SI Fantasy. You can follow Michael on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram for your late-breaking fantasy news and the best analysis in the business to help you win a fantasy championship!