Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or DeVonta Smith

Tuesday, July 22, 5:34 PM

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (knee) and offensive tackle Trent Williams (ankle) are both "here and healthy" at training camp, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. Both players are ready to go, but their workloads will be managed throughout camp. McCaffrey was an absolute bust for fantasy managers in 2024, as he ended up missing 13 games, first due to Achilles tendinitis in both his legs, and then due to a PCL sprain in his right knee. The 29-year-old also took part in offseason activities and looked healthy then, so he shouldn't be limited in any way once the 2025 regular season begins. While CMC still has game-changing abilities and will be heavily featured in San Fran's offense, he has slipped to RB5 in RotoBaller's rankings because of his penchant for injury. McCaffrey is about as risk/reward as they come.

Monday, July 28, 12:10 PM

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith (back) is not taking part in Monday's training camp practice due to back tightness, according to the team. It doesn't sound like Smith's back injury is particularly serious, so hopefully he'll be back on the field in a matter of days. If his back injury were to linger, though, it would give more opportunities to Jahan Dotson, Terrace Marshall, Ainias Smith and Johnny Wilson behind WR1 A.J. Brown. Smith has only missed five of 77 games since he entered the league in 2021 despite his slim build. What he lacks in pure volume, the 26-year-old makes up for in efficiency deep down the field as one of the better No. 2 wideouts in the league behind Brown in an offense with plenty of mouths to feed. As long as Smith's back injury doesn't linger, he'll be a fine low-end WR2/high-end WR3 target in fantasy drafts.