Is Christian McCaffrey Playing in Week 7 After His Trade to the 49ers? Fantasy Football Outlook

The real and fantasy football world got rocked on Thursday night when Christian McCaffrey was traded from the Panthers to the 49ers. While there had been rumors that the running back was on the trade block, it was still surprising to see a team willing to give up the draft capital for him while taking on his contract.

McCaffrey now goes from the top option (rushing and receiving) on a bad football team to a player that will have to compete for targets on a much better team. We all know how talented McCaffrey is (and how good of a scheme Kyle Shanahan has), so McCaffrey should be better in the long term.

However, that doesn’t answer the question of what fantasy managers should do this week. Is Christian McCaffrey playing in Week 7 after his trade to the San Francisco 49ers? Find out below.

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Is Christian McCaffrey Playing in Week 7 After His Trade to the 49ers?

A Thursday night trade means that Christian McCaffrey will log zero practice snaps with the 49ers ahead of their Week 7 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. McCaffrey landed in San Francisco on Friday morning and will at least have some time to go through the playbook ahead of the game.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan was equally cryptic when it comes to the ability to play Christian McCaffrey against the Chiefs this week.

All indications point to McCaffrey being active for this game and operating within a limited package of plays, specifically within the red zone. There will at least be some packages where he is on the field and we all know that when CMC is on the field, he can be a very good football player.

Further complicating things is the fact that several teams with fantasy-relevant running backs (Buffalo, Philadelphia, Los Angeles Rams, and Minnesota Vikings) have byes this week. Fantasy managers who roster McCaffrey AND one of the running backs on those teams could find themselves in a bind this week.

For fantasy, roster construction is going to factor heavily into the decision to start McCaffrey this week. Fantasy managers that are racked by injuries and bye weeks and have Christian McCaffrey may want to start him due to the lack of options on the waiver wire.

I am personally starting McCaffrey in the league where I have him. I’ll take the touchdown upside (in what should be an explosive matchup) and hope that the package of plays the 49ers' offensive coaches draw up for him is big enough to justify it.

Monitor this situation closely going into Sunday to make sure McCaffrey isn’t made a surprise inactive.

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