49ers Christian McCaffrey Has Complicated Fantasy Football Ranking

With all 32 teams beginning training camp last week, the start of the 2025 NFL season is officially upon us, where each and every franchise is locked in and focused on winning a coveted Super Bowl title. For the San Francisco 49ers, putting a tough 2024 season behind them and returning to the top of the NFC is the main mission.

And it looks like they will get some major reinforcements back for their quest, as star running back Christian McCaffrey is fully healthy again after being limited to only four games in the '24 campaign.

Participating in full capacity at the start of training camp, McCaffrey's return will be a welcome sight for both the 49ers and their fans. But what about his fantasy football outlook for this season? Well, that could be a little bit more complicated.

NFL.com recently released its 2025 fantasy football running back rankings, putting McCaffrey at No. 5--the first running back in tier two. While that seems like a pretty solid rating, meaning that he is still viewed as a high quality starter, it is a far cry from the start of 2023 and 2024 where he was ranked at or near the top.

But when you take everything into account, McCaffrey got a good ranking with a lot of time to improve on it as the season progresses. As recently as last season, McCaffrey was the type of player that many fantasy managers drafted No. 1 overall before being forced to figure out a plan B after an injury kept him out until late in the season.

This season, some may keep him off their draft boards, but McCaffrey still provides tremendous upside for 2025.

In his last two healthy seasons, McCaffrey was the type of player who could single-handedly win a fantasy season. In 2023, during his Offensive Player of the Year campaign, McCaffrey was one of the highest scorers in fantasy football and was a guy who could take a losing team and win them a matchup in any given week.

These performances also came at a time when the 49ers offense possessed healthy talent at every position. Now, with McCaffrey healthy and the 49ers trading guys like Deebo Samuel, it could open up more chances for him offensively and create situations for him to prove that he still has it.

But, CBS Sports also noted a major downside for McCaffrey that could be hard to ignore. CBS' Dave Richard mentioned that while McCaffrey looks like his old self at practice again, his age and injury history could force the team to reconsider how they use him, noting that keeping him fresh and healthy for the entire season is top priority.

"McCaffrey might be 29 years old and coming off a horrible injury-plagued year, but that will not keep some Fantasy managers from taking him with a top-15 overall pick (if not in the top 10)," Richard said. "It's because McCaffrey's proven potential is right up there with literally anyone else in Fantasy. In 2023, he played 16 games and averaged 24.5 PPR points; in 2022, he played 17 games and averaged 21.1 PPR points; and his results even in partial years like 2021 and 2022 were still strong."

"Maybe the 49ers will consider dialing back his playing time this year, but not to the point where he won't average 17-plus touches per game," Richard added. "Risk-averse Fantasy managers won't have a problem passing up McCaffrey, citing his age and availability, and risk-ignorant Fantasy managers will gravitate toward him.

"If you're in-between, you could opt to safeguard by pairing him with expected 49ers backup RB Isaac Guerendo with a pick starting in Round 8."