Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or Avery Williams

Tuesday, April 1, 10:43 PM

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that running back Christian McCaffrey (knee) is "healthy and doing great" this offseason. Despite playing in just four games in 2024 due to Achilles and knee injuries, McCaffrey said back in January that he was close to 100 percent and probably would have played if the team had advanced to the playoffs. The 28-year-old do-it-all back averaged a mediocre 4.0 yards per carry on his 50 rushing attempts in 2024. Jordan Mason was traded to the Minnesota Vikings this offseason, and although CMC is still the team's unquestioned lead back when healthy, it's possible that Isaac Guerendo could see more complementary work in the backfield in 2025. McCaffrey surely won't be the No. 1 overall fantasy pick this fall after being the biggest bust in 2024, but although there's plenty of injury risk, the upside will still make him hard to pass up as a high-end RB1.

Friday, March 14, 9:56 PM

Former Atlanta Falcons running back/return man Avery Williams signed an undisclosed deal with the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday, according to his agency, the Aura Sports Group. Williams, who was drafted by the Falcons in the fifth round (183rd overall) in 2021 out of Boise State, has not put up any numbers as an offensive threat since the 2022 campaign. However, the 26-year-old special-teamer did have 408 kickoff-return yards and 185 punt-return yards in 2024 over 17 games. He will now be an option to return both kickoffs and punts for the reigning Super Bowl champions in 2025 while also providing backfield depth behind Saquon Barkley, AJ Dillon and Will Shipley. Williams will be well off the fantasy radar in all formats this fall.