As we gear up to the start of the NFL season, Football Absurdity is going to bring you a comprehensive breakdown of every notable player that will be available in fantasy football drafts. We only look at the past three seasons for a player. Coincidentally, that’s as many years as Christian McCaffrey has been in the NFL! Christian McCaffrey became the first running back to go for 1,000 receiving yards and 1,000 rushing yards in the same season since Santana and Rob Thomas topped the charts with “Smooth.” The time before that, Culture Club was lighting up the charts with “Karma Chameleon.” The phrase gets thrown around a lot, but being the third person to do something since the 1983 season is flashing a truly generational talent.
Christian McCaffrey ADP and AAV:
Standard Scoring ADP: RB1, 1 overall
PPR Scoring ADP: RB1, 1 overall
Average Auction Value: $76
Christian McCaffrey Statistics:
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| G | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| GS | 16 | 16 | 10 |
| Ru Att | 287 | 219 | 117 |
| Ru Yds | 1387 | 1098 | 435 |
| Ru TD | 15 | 7 | 2 |
| Tgt | 142 | 124 | 113 |
| Rec | 116 | 107 | 80 |
| Yards | 1005 | 867 | 651 |
| TD | 4 | 6 | 5 |
| Touches | 403 | 326 | 197 |
| Opp | 429 | 343 | 230 |
| Total Yards | 2392 | 1965 | 1086 |
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| YPC | 4.83 | 5.01 | 3.72 |
| Ru Att/G | 17.9 | 13.7 | 7.3 |
| Ru Yd/G | 86.7 | 68.6 | 27.2 |
| Tgt/G | 8.88 | 7.75 | 7.06 |
| Rec/G | 7.25 | 6.69 | 5.00 |
| Catch% | 81.7% | 86.3% | 70.8% |
| Yds/Tgt | 7.08 | 6.99 | 5.76 |
| Yds/Rec | 8.66 | 8.10 | 8.14 |
| Touches/G | 25.19 | 20.38 | 12.31 |
| Opp/G | 26.81 | 21.44 | 14.38 |
| Yds/G | 149.50 | 122.81 | 67.88 |
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Std Pts | 355.2 | 278.5 | 148.6 |
| HPPR Pts | 413.2 | 332 | 188.6 |
| PPR Pts | 471.2 | 385.5 | 228.6 |
| Pts/G | 22.20 | 17.41 | 9.29 |
| HPPR Pts/G | 25.83 | 20.75 | 11.79 |
| PPR Pts/G | 29.45 | 24.09 | 14.29 |
| Pts/Touch | 0.88 | 0.85 | 0.75 |
| Pts/Touch (HPPR) | 1.03 | 1.02 | 0.96 |
| Pts/Touch (PPR) | 1.17 | 1.18 | 1.16 |
Christian McCaffrey Overview:
There isn’t a lot to say about Christian McCaffrey. The suggestion out of college that he couldn’t run between the tackles is dead, and he’s one of the best pass-catching backs in the league. He’s the 1.01 in all drafts where someone doesn’t get too cute for some reason.
Christian McCaffrey Draft Strategy:
Christian McCaffrey Auction Value: $74
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet! (coming late June)
Unless you are in a Superflex or 2QB league, if you see that Christian McCaffrey is available, you draft Christian McCaffrey. If you are in a Superflex or 2QB and you see that CMC is available but Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson are not, then you draft McCaffrey. Or even if Mahomes and L-Jax are available. It’s not rocket surgery.
In auction drafts, Evan Hoovler’s Barbecue Strategy leaves room to get CMC and another RB1 or WR1, meaning go weapons free for him if you really want to get him onto your roster. Evan doesn’t recommend more than $78 in a 12-team league, but given his average price per Yahoo! of $76, that’s more than enough to get him on your roster.
Best Case Scenario:
Christian McCaffrey builds on his 2020 season and goes, what, 1,200-1,200? That would be a sight to see.
Worst Case Scenario:
Barring injury it really feels like 800-800 is his absolute floor. He’s a beast, a monster, and quite possibly the best player in the NFC South. Though, Bryan Sclar provided you an alternate theory by looking at the recent history of 400-touch backs.
[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com and airyards.com]
