Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or James Conner

Tuesday, December 3, 6:08 PM

The San Francisco 49ers officially placed running back Christian McCaffrey (knee) on Injured Reserve on Tuesday, which means he'll be forced to miss at least the next four games. However, McCaffrey suffered a PCL sprain in his right knee in the Sunday night loss to the Buffalo Bills and is expected to need at least six weeks of recovery time. It means that unless the 49ers pick things up and make a run to the postseason, CMC's injury-plagued 2024 campaign will come to an end. Jordan Mason (ankle) is also on IR with a high-ankle sprain, which will force rookie Isaac Guerendo into the team's lead-back role for at least the next four weeks. With CMC officially on IR, fantasy managers can drop him in redraft leagues. The 28-year-old was a huge bust for fantasy managers this year. He didn't make his season debut until Week 10 due to bilateral Achilles tendonitis and ended up playing in just four games in 2024.

Wednesday, December 25, 10:05 PM

Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner (knee) was a limited participant during Wednesday's practice. The veteran has maintained the same practice status for two days in a row; he had also been limited in Tuesday's walkthrough. The Cardinals will hold one more practice on Thursday before releasing their final injury report. If Conner can log a full session, he might be able to avoid an official injury designation. Otherwise, he could end up being listed as questionable for Week 17, which would leave his status in doubt until the Cardinals' list of inactives gets released on Saturday evening. Fantasy managers certainly hope that Conner will be able to suit up. He has remained a top fantasy option in his age-29 season, ranking as the RB9 overall with 1,090 rushing yards, 410 receiving yards, and nine total touchdowns. He should continue to be deployed as a top-12 fantasy running backs, assuming he suits up Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams.