Christian McCaffrey Has Fantasy Football Managers Worried ... Already

Michael Fabiano | Sep 5, 2025

49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (calf) popped up on the injury report on Thursday. / David Gonzales-Imagn Images

I’m not going to say I told you so … yet.

49ers running back and fantasy star Christian McCaffrey was added to the injury report Thursday due to a calf injury. Obviously, it’s a red flag for a player who had played in seven or fewer games in three of the last five seasons including just four games a season ago.

According to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, CMC was on the field doing warmup and individual drills during the portion of practice that was open to reporters. However, he was not in the locker room afterwards and did not do his usual Thursday media session. This same sort of thing happened last season, when McCaffrey was limited in practice prior to Week 1 and was ultimately listed as questionable. He ended up on injured reserve soon after that.

Obviously, fantasy managers who took CMC need to keep tabs on today’s injury report. If he’s limited again (or worse), you better have an alternative prepared. Hopefully, you were able to get Bran Robinson Jr. as a handcuff. If McCaffrey ends up being questionable and you don’t have B-Rob, you’ll have a tough decision since the Niners play at 4:05pm.