It's deja vu all over again.
Christian McCaffrey was a high fantasy football draft pick again this year. But as Week 1 approaches, an injury has taken the spotlight for the San Francisco 49ers' star running back.
His availability for Sunday's matchup with the Seattle Seahawks has yet to be determined. But it's not an ideal scenario for fantasy players.
The 49ers play in the later window of games, meaning many options to replace CMC if he is inactive will have already played.
This will be a situation that has McCaffrey's fantasy owners pulling their hair out right away this season.
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Is Christian McCaffrey playing Week 1?
Christian McCaffrey is officially listed as questionable for Week 1, and it seems like a true question of whether he'll play.
CMC wasn't on the 49ers' injury report. He popped up as a limited participant on Thursday, with a calf injury.
And then McCaffrey didn't practice at all Friday. It suggests the injury may have occurred during Thursday's practice.
Inactives for the 49ers will be released at about 3 p.m. ET, 12 noon PT on Sunday.
Fantasy players to stash off waivers to replace Christian McCaffrey
If you're holding out hope that CMC plays, you better have a backup option.
You'll need someone that plays in the 4 p.m. ET window, or on Sunday or Monday night.
If your best RB bench option plays in one of the later games, you're all set. Just check out the inactives 90 minutes before the 49ers kick off, and replace as needed.
If you have no bench running back options in the later games, these are a few guys who could still be available in the free agent pool:
- Brian Robinson Jr. and Isaac Guerendo, 49ers
- Dameon Pierce, Texans
- Keaton Mitchell, Ravens (deep leagues)
- Ty Johnson, Bills (deep leagues)
If you can slot CMC in your FLEX spot and wait it out, you could also target one of these WRs as insurance:
- Tory Horton, Seahawks
- Elic Ayomanor, Titans
- Isaac TeSlaa, Lions
- Jayden Higgins, Texans
- Joshua Palmer, Bills
- Adam Thielen, Vikings
It's certainly not an ideal situation, but welcome to the recent McCaffrey experience.
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