Start Christian McCaffrey or Chase Brown? Week 3

Our Week 3 call

Start Christian McCaffrey over Chase Brown in Week 3.

De-vigged player props project Christian McCaffrey at 15.8 points and Chase Brown at 16.2, a gap of 0.4. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip.

What the books imply

Player prop markets imply 16.2 fantasy points for Chase Brown, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The books have Chase Brown at 63.5 rushing yards, 21.5 receiving yards and 3.5 receptions, with a 50% chance to score a touchdown (11, 16, 13 and 15 books).

Player prop markets imply 15.8 fantasy points for Christian McCaffrey, with 90 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The books have Christian McCaffrey at 55.5 rushing yards, with a 70% chance to score a touchdown (12 and 15 books).

That puts Chase Brown 0.4 points ahead of Christian McCaffrey on the books.

Week 3 matchups

Chase Brown and CIN visit PIT on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

PIT allowed 26.5 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 2 games, the 7th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 117 yards and 0.5 touchdowns a game against PIT and caught passes for 49 more yards.

Injury status

Chase Brown is not on the injury report.

Christian McCaffrey is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 3

Through Week 2, Chase Brown played 71 percent of CIN snaps, took 75 percent of the carries, drew 17 percent of the targets and had 41 percent of the red zone chances.

Chase Brown, Week 1 against TB: 46 of 64 snaps, 16 carries for 56 yards, 6 targets and 5 catches for 22 yards, 1 touchdown.

Chase Brown, Week 2 against HOU: 42 of 60 snaps, 20 carries for 80 yards, 5 targets and 3 catches for 2 yards.

Through Week 2, Christian McCaffrey played 54 percent of SF snaps, took 36 percent of the carries, drew 22 percent of the targets and had 36 percent of the red zone chances.

Christian McCaffrey, Week 1 against LAR: 36 of 65 snaps, 10 carries for 68 yards, 8 targets and 5 catches for 20 yards.

Christian McCaffrey, Week 2 against MIA: 27 of 52 snaps, 10 carries for 23 yards, 4 targets and 4 catches for 43 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Their 2025 seasons

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

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

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

Chase Brown, Week 18 of 2025 against CLE: 13 carries for 72 yards, 6 targets and 4 catches for 18 yards, 1 touchdown, 19.0 PPR points.

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

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

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

Christian McCaffrey, Week 18 of 2025 against SEA: 36 of 42 snaps, 8 carries for 23 yards, 7 targets and 6 catches for 34 yards, 11.7 PPR points.

Their other Week 3 calls

• Start Chase Brown over Ashton Jeanty.
• Start Chuba Hubbard over Chase Brown.
• Start Derrick Henry over Chase Brown.
• Start Christian McCaffrey over Ashton Jeanty.
• Start Bijan Robinson over Christian McCaffrey.
• Start Christian McCaffrey over Breece Hall.