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Should you draft Christian McCaffrey in the first round in 2026 given hints of a reduced workload?
Apr 17, 2026r/fantasyfootballr/fantasyfootball
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Stumbled upon a few 49ers podcasts today (“49ers Cutback” and “49ers Talk”) that brought up how the coaching staff intends to reduce CMC’s snap count and overall usage in 2026 to keep him fresher for the postseason. Was skeptical because we’ve all heard that story before, but it sent me down a rabbit hole. A few things stood out: (1) Coach Speak Index grades Kyle Shanahan as one of the most trustworthy coaches when it comes to usage/workload. Don’t know how accurate this site is, but interesting. (2) CMC had 413 touches this past regular season. CMC has only had 400+ touches one other time in his regular-season career (403 touches in 2019). The following year, he only played 3 games. He also had 400+ in 2023 when including postseason touches. The following year, he played 4 games. (3) Another recent Sports Illustrated article explains how Shanahan and CMC both acknowledged the need for more RB depth to reduce his workload. Neither of them has ever been this adamant about that before in the past. CMC also said this past season was the toughest of his career. (4) CMC’s average long run per game dropped to 13 yards last season compared to 20 yards in previous years (Fantasy Footballers). Could be a symptom of o-line/offense, toll of a large workload, and/or declining explosiveness. So with all that, it feels like there are two paths you can go down with this info: (A) Fade him off a monster year, knowing it will be tough to repeat, and there are already some warning flags. (B) Ride him until the wheels fall off, because even if the reduced workload stuff is true, a 70%-90% CMC is still really, really, good (and fun to have on your team). Which side are you taking? submitted by /u/mochajoesdynsaty [link] [comments]