Should I start Christian McCaffrey or Kaelon Black in Week 8?
Updated Nov 3, 3:46 AM ET. Week 9 answers post Tuesday.
Start Christian McCaffrey: 72 percent of the snaps and 46 percent of the carries over their last 3 games, against Kaelon Black's 30 percent of the snaps and 35 percent of the carries. No market projection is posted on either of them this week, so this is a usage call, and a lower confidence one than a call made on a projection. What follows is what each of them has done.
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Neither man carries a season projection right now, so this is their usage this season and their last full season's numbers, side by side.
RB14 · SF · bye 8
2026 vs carries line 2-5
- Overall rank
- 49
RB64 · SF · bye 8
- Overall rank
- 218
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The gap
- Board size297 draftable players
Draft data is not current for these two, so the figures that depend on it are left out. The call above comes from each player's usage.
Where the draft room stands
Live drafts hold no current pick on Christian McCaffrey, and the board ranks him 49th overall on the rest of his evidence.
In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 7.
Live drafts hold no current pick on Kaelon Black, and the board ranks him 218th overall on the rest of his evidence.
The market-based projections
The market-based projection for Christian McCaffrey is 7.4 PPR points a game off 1 market across 4 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.
No season market is posted for Kaelon Black, so the only market valuing him on this page is the draft room.
This season through Week 7
Through Week 7, Christian McCaffrey has been on the field for 69 percent of SF snaps, taken 46 percent of the carries, drawn 20 percent of the targets and had 36 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 9 of the offence's 50 third down targets, had 12 of its 24 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 30 two minute targets.
His 42 targets have averaged 2.5 air yards.
In Week 5 against SEA he carried 11 times for 68 yards, caught 3 of 3 targets for 15 yards and scored 1 touchdown.
In Week 6 against WAS he carried 16 times for 64 yards, caught 9 of 10 targets for 53 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.
In Week 7 against ATL he carried 7 times for 39 yards, caught 6 of 7 targets for 61 yards and scored 1 touchdown.
Through Week 7, Kaelon Black has been on the field for 30 percent of SF snaps, taken 31 percent of the carries, drawn 3 percent of the targets and had 16 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 0 of the offence's 50 third down targets, had 3 of its 24 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 30 two minute targets.
His 6 targets have come 2.0 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.
In Week 5 against SEA he carried 6 times for 16 yards and did not score.
In Week 6 against WAS he carried 8 times for 34 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 3 yards and did not score.
In Week 7 against ATL he carried 12 times for 63 yards, caught 1 of 3 targets for -4 yards and scored 1 touchdown.
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.
Kaelon Black is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.
Head to head
This season Christian McCaffrey holds the bigger snap share, 69 percent against 30 percent.
This season Christian McCaffrey holds the bigger share of the carries, 46 percent against 31 percent.
Byes and availability
Both are off in Week 8, so a roster holding the pair has that one week to cover twice.
Christian McCaffrey is listed as questionable on the injury report.
Both players in full
Week 8 on the board
- Is Christian McCaffrey playing Week 8?
- Is Kaelon Black playing Week 8?
- 49ers depth chart
- Week 8 RB rankings
- Week 8 fantasy rankings
- Week 8 start or sit
- Week 9 waiver wire
- Week 9 trade value chart
- Trade deadline buy low, sell high
- Fantasy football rankings
- Start 'em sit 'em Week 8
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 8 kicker rankings
- Week 8 defense rankings
