As Taylor Swift attempted to upstage the NFL with the announcement of her new album and added bonus tracks during “Thursday Night Football,” the 49ers weren’t having it and grabbed the spotlight back for themselves with a trade that shook the entire football community.
For the price of just four draft picks, the 49ers acquired All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey from the Panthers and potentially transformed their offense into a juggernaut of speed and power. In reality, the move certainly increases their chances to win the Super Bowl. In fantasy football, the ripple effects of this deal are creating panic in the streets.
On the San Francisco side, the expected ramifications are basic. McCaffrey remains a high-value, high-risk asset who will be incredibly productive so long as he remains healthy. Jeff Wilson Jr. moves into a complementary role and those stashing Elijah Mitchell on IR can still do so, but need to lower their expectations for when he returns.
Though there is no change in value for Jimmy Garoppolo, Deebo Samuel takes a small hit because his rushing work will be reduced, and we may see more passes to McCaffrey, which should reduce targets for Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle. It won’t be a huge reduction, but maybe by one or two per week.
The biggest change will be the starting running back for the Panthers. D’Onta Foreman is expected to take the lead role, with Chuba Hubbard serving as the complement. Exactly what the split will be is not yet known, but you can expect interim head coach Steve Wilks to ride the hot hand.
Value-wise, you need to be careful. Adding Foreman or Hubbard should not come at the expense of even a moderately productive running back. Consider them a step below the top-25 at the position for now — better than Tyler Allgeier, but worse than Brian Robinson — and watch how things develop.
It is easy to get swept up in the news and start haphazardly adding players, but you need to calmly assess the situation first. We’ve watched Foreman for years, and he has never been anything spectacular, just as we’ve witnessed McCaffrey getting hurt over the past two seasons. Keep a level head, don’t panic, and watch the games closely this weekend for more answers.
Howard Bender is the VP of operations and head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on Twitter @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy sports advice, player projections, injury updates and more.
Credit: Source link
