Christian McCaffrey or Chase Brown: who should I start in Week 3?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Christian McCaffrey: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 10th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 9.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Chase Brown: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 12th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 5; 2QB: ADP 29.

What the sportsbooks price

The books have Christian McCaffrey at 16.6 PPR points a game off 4 markets across 15 books. That is 80 percent of what a running back's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The player markets price Chase Brown at 16.2 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 15 books. That is the 32nd highest figure of the 186 players the books price.

Christian McCaffrey's price is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 2

Through Week 2, Christian McCaffrey has been on the field for 54 percent of SF snaps, taken 36 percent of the carries, drawn 22 percent of the targets and had 36 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 5 of the offence's 15 third down targets, had 4 of its 8 chances inside the five and seen 2 of its 3 two minute targets.

His 12 targets have averaged 0.7 air yards.

In Week 1 against LAR he carried 10 times for 68 yards, caught 5 of 8 targets for 20 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against MIA he carried 10 times for 23 yards, caught 4 of 4 targets for 43 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

Through Week 2, Chase Brown has been on the field for 71 percent of CIN snaps, taken 75 percent of the carries, drawn 17 percent of the targets and had 41 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 3 of the offence's 19 third down targets, had 3 of its 6 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 10 two minute targets.

His 11 targets have come 2.5 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 1 against TB he carried 16 times for 56 yards, caught 5 of 6 targets for 22 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 2 against HOU he carried 20 times for 80 yards, caught 3 of 5 targets for 2 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Christian McCaffrey played 17 games and scored 416.6 PPR points, 24.5 a game, finishing RB1.

He carried 311 times for 1202 yards and 10 touchdowns, and caught 102 of 129 targets for 924 more yards.

That came to 18.3 carries a game at 3.9 yards a carry and 6.0 catches a game.

He was on the field for 83 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Chase Brown played 17 games and scored 282.6 PPR points, 16.6 a game, finishing RB7.

He carried 232 times for 1019 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 69 of 88 targets for 437 more yards.

That came to 13.6 carries a game at 4.4 yards a carry and 4.1 catches a game.

He was on the field for 67 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Head to head

In 2025 Christian McCaffrey scored 24.5 PPR points a game and Chase Brown 16.6, 7.9 a game between them.

Christian McCaffrey finished RB1 that year and Chase Brown RB7.

Christian McCaffrey had 79 more carries than Chase Brown, 311 to 232.

Christian McCaffrey had 33 more catches than Chase Brown, 102 to 69.

This season Chase Brown holds the bigger snap share, 71 percent against 54 percent.

This season Chase Brown holds the bigger share of the carries, 75 percent against 36 percent.

Byes and availability

Christian McCaffrey is off in Week 8 and Chase Brown in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

Christian McCaffrey is only part priced, so the books' half of this page is whole for only one of them.