Christian McCaffrey's Stats, Metrics, Game Logs, Projections & Rankings

Predictably, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey was heavily involved in the team's 25-22 Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. The newly-minted Offensive Player of the Year took 22 carries for 80 yards, plus eight receptions on as many targets for another 80 yards and a touchdown. The 21-yard touchdown reception improbably came from wide receiver Jauan Jennings on a trick play. It's hard to blame McCaffrey for the loss after 160 all-purpose yards, but besides the touchdown he was pretty well bottled up by Kansas City's defense, averaging just 3.6 yards on the ground while not gaining any chunks longer than 11 yards. CMC will once again enter 2024 fantasy drafts worthy of consideration for the No. 1 overall pick.

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey will make his first Super Bowl appearance against the Kansas City Chiefs as the top option at running back for fantasy players. The former Carolina Panther and Stanford star has torn up the NFL in his seventh year, averaging a whopping 21.7 half-PPR points in full games while only producing fewer than 15 points twice. There is little reason to believe McCaffrey won't finish the year in a similar vein especially since Kansas City's elite pass defense will probably funnel the 49ers into leaning heavily on McCaffrey in the running game. The Chiefs spent the regular season as a top-10 rush defense but McCaffrey has risen to the challenge consistently against quality rush defenses, most recently in the NFC Championship Game versus the Detroit Lions, who finished the regular season as the single toughest opponent for fantasy running backs. In that game, he went for 132 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. McCaffrey is sure to be expensive for DFS players. Still, he's as close to a sure thing as they come, especially considering it's almost impossible to imagine a game script that significantly diminishes his involvement.

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey was named the 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year on Thursday. McCaffrey is basically one of a kind in today's NFL. The 27-year-old not only helped lead the Niners to Super Bowl LVIII, but he was the most dynamic overall offensive player in 2023. He finished the regular season with a career-high 21 total touchdowns while totaling 2,023 yards from scrimmage in 16 games played. CMC had a league-high and career-high 1,459 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns on 272 attempts, adding 67 receptions (83 targets) for 564 receiving yards and seven TDs through the air. McCaffrey isn't without his injury risks, but when he manages to stay healthy, it's hard for any other RBs to even hold a candle to his fantasy upside.

It was a tale of two halves for San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey in Sunday's 34-31 victory over the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game. In the first half, McCaffrey struggled to find open field against a stout Detroit run defense and gained just 3.3 yards per carry. McCaffrey has been the engine of San Francisco's potent offense all year, so it is no coincidence that the largest comeback in NFC Championship Game history featured CMC ramping up to 5.9 per carry in the second half. All told he took 20 rush attempts for 90 yards and two touchdowns while adding four catches on five targets for 42 yards receiving. The Niners have now punched their ticket to Las Vegas and Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs. McCaffrey will represent the top fantasy play at any position in the rematch of Super Bowl LIV.

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey enters Sunday's NFC Championship game against the Detroit Lions in Santa Clara as -- yet again -- the alpha option in fantasy. Last week against Green Bay the dual threat racked up 128 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. Detroit's run defense was stellar during the regular season, only allowing 14.1 half-PPR points to opposing running backs, which was tops in the league. They finished strong as well, maintaining No.1 status over their last five regular season games. In the playoffs, the Lions held Rams breakout back Kyren Williams to 61 yards on the ground and the Bucs' Rachaad White to 55 yards. However, McCaffrey has been as matchup-proof as they come, putting up 21 and 18.8 fantasy points against the second and third-ranked Rams and Bucs run defenses, respectively. DFS players willing to spend on McCaffrey should look forward to a solid day even if Detroit stifles the 49ers' rushing attack early, as San Francisco likely shifts his usage into the passing game.