A late night blockbuster went down in the NFL yesterday as the San Francisco 49ers acquired star running back Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers.
McCaffrey, who starred at Stanford University before being selected 8th overall in the 2017 NFL draft, will now head back out west to join a 49ers team looking to vie for a Super Bowl this season.
In exchange, San Francisco is sending Carolina its 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round draft picks in 2023, and a 5th round pick in 2024.
When healthy CMC is one of the most dynamic playmakers in the NFL. He’s one of only three players in league history to amass 1,000 yards receiving and rushing in the same season. Despite a slow start to the season for the Panthers, the 26 year old sits 4th in the NFL with 670 yards from scrimmage.
With the former All-Pro RB now on the west coast, let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers from the largest trade of the season thus far.
Winner: Christian McCaffrey
CMC moves from a team in the running for the 1st overall draft pick next spring, to a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The Panthers ranked 26th in the league in rushing yards per game at 90.3ypg, to the 12th best in San Francisco, who despite having a slew of injuries to their running back room, still managed to post 124ypg.
Jimmy G isn’t one to stretch the field with his arm, so check downs, and bubble screens should be a common occurrence at Levi’s Stadium. Great news for those playing in half and full point PPR leagues.
San Francisco’s offensive line is currently graded out as the 9th best unit in the league per Sharp Football Analysis. This despite missing 9x Pro Bowler Trent Williams for most of the season. The good news is that Williams returned from his ankle injury at Wednesday’s practice and is currently questionable for the team’s game this weekend.
Expect virtually every metric when it comes to CMC to go up once he suits up for the Red & Gold.
Loser: Jeff Wilson Jr.
This weekend is likely the last fantasy relevant game that Wilson will log in 2022 barring injury. With CMC still needing to pass physicals, and learn the playbook, it’s unclear whether he will suit up vs. Kansas City, or be on a snap count.
Wilson had rushed 81 times for 400 yards and 2 TDs on the ground prior to the trade, but will now take a clear back seat to McCaffrey in the Niners offense. If you’ve got a gullible person in your league, or someone who doesn’t stay up to date on fantasy news, see if you can flip him for anything at this point. If not, he’s likely droppable after this weekend.
Winners: D’Onta Foreman & Chubba Hubbard
Neither were fantasy relevant heading into this week, and it’s still unclear who will ultimately grab the lead back role and run with it. Quick acting managers would do well to scoop up both and see how the timeshare works out this weekend vs. Tampa Bay.
Unfortunately for owners, the Bucs have given up the 2nd fewest fantasy points to running backs thus far, and that trend isn’t likely to change against the Panthers.
Both Hubbard and Foreman have posted similar snap & touch rates so far in 2022, but Carolina signed Foreman for a reason this offseason. The team wasn’t overly thrilled with Hubbard’s production last year as he eventually lost touches to Ameer Abdullah. Foreman filled in admirably for Derrick Henry after the All-Pro back went down last year with the Titans. Expect Foreman to get the first crack at lead back duties, but know that he’s likely on a short leash.
Losers: Carolina QBs
Whether you want to talk about Baker Mayfield, PJ Walker, or the newly designated to return Sam Darnold, Carolina is a wasteland at the QB position at the moment.
Making matters worse, CMC and the newly departed Robbie Anderson were the team’s top receivers before being shipped out of town. This now leaves DJ Moore, Rashard Higgins, and Laviska Shenault as the team’s primary pass catching options.
With a full blown tear down in process, there’s a good chance the team isn’t done shipping out players in exchange for draft picks. Unless you’re in the deepest of 2 QB leagues, you can safely avoid the entire quarterback room in Charlotte these days.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.