Fantasy Football expert details massive Christian McCaffrey red flag - “Quickest way to lose"

For all Fantasy Football afficionados are gearing up to draft their players and Christian McCaffrey is at the top of many lists. And why should he not be? He played all 17 games in 2022 as the San Francisco 49ers reached the NFC Championship game.

But according to Fantasy Football expert Frank Michael Smith, that is the very reason it makes him an unreliable pick. He highlights that among running backs, Christian McCaffrey had a high load after playing all available games for the 49ers.

He is also 27, when running backs start showing wear and tear on their body and their performance decreases. Coupled with his injury history, it makes him a risky prospect, according to Smith who said,

"Now you can make up as many excuses you want for his team or injuries. But numbers don't lie. Sure, he bounced back and played 17 games in 2022. But we're still talking about a guy with massive red flags everywhere. First off, he's 27 which means he's officially old and running back years and took a beating last season after taking the fourth most touches in the league."

He adds that over the previous seasons when he was with the Carolina Panthers, Christian McCaffrey played half of the available games in the previous two years.

"Quickest way to lose your fantasy league this year is drafting Christian McCaffrey. Now first of all burning people who took them in the top three is nothing new for CMC. In fact, he pulled it up two years in a row. In 2020, his ADP was 1.2 he finished RB 54. Following years ADP was the same and he finished RB 34. As the football saying goes, your best ability is availability. CMC started only 10 games between those years."

Kyle Shanahan another reason for being wary of Christian McCaffrey in Fantasy Football

The other reason Frank Michael Smith highlights for advising caution in picking Christian McCaffrey is his head coach with the San Francisco 49ers. Kyle Shanahan is extremely practical in the way he views his players. He also knows that the running back took a tremendous amount of load last year. The coach will also been keenly aware of his advancing age and injury record.

Given the offensive weapons he has, there is no reason to suspect that Shanahan will overwork McCaffrey. Instead, there is a good chance that he may rotate him with Elijah Mitchell, as he did last year. As Smith points out, in the games when both were active, Mitchell took 62 carries in 6 games.

"His coach Kyle Shanahan is well aware [of] what NFL history has to say about old running backs who took a pounding season before... the smart money's on Shanahan pacing, CMC with a healthy dose of Elijah Mitchell which is already kind of done. In the six games they racked up together, Mitchell took 62 carries, of course there's an injury risk [that] comes from McCaffrey as well. It goes for all backs."

Given that McCaffrey is listed as the top running back in many Fantasy Football rankings, and his high price tag, there might be better value among other running backs in the league.

View on TikTok

While that is the opinion of a single expert, he does make some salient points. On the flipside, Christian McCaffrey can always say that his injury record was due to playing for a team like Carolina Panthers, where most of the offensive workload and expectations fell on him.

Now that he had support, he just turned in a healthy and productive year for the 49ers. He could argue that being in a better team means that he is finally getting a chance to come into his prime unlike other running backs. Utlimately, all will become clear when the NFL season finally begins.