Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or Tyjae Spears


Week 1 Projections

Fant.
Pts.
Rush.
Yds.
Rush
TD
Rec. Rec.
Yds.
Rec
TD
21.1 70.8 0.6 4.9 37.1 0.3

Christian McCaffrey News

Christian McCaffrey "Looks Ready for Week 1"

Tuesday, September 1, 1:10 PM

CBS Sports' Matt Lively thinks that San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (undisclosed) "certainly looks ready for Week 1" after seeing him practice on Tuesday. McCaffrey, who missed some training camp practices with an undisclosed issue, looked spry in a video that Lively posted of 49ers practice. CMC was catching passes and running around in full uniform, so he looks ready for the Week 1 regular-season opener next Thursday against the division-rival Los Angeles Rams in Australia, barring any setbacks between now and then. San Francisco most likely was just keeping the oft-injured star RB in bubble wrap during camp and the preseason, especially when considering the rest of their backfield was banged up as well. All signs point to McCaffrey being a full-go for Week 1, and he still has league-winning upside as a top-five fantasy RB, albeit with more risk than some of the other top names at the position. McCaffrey managed to play in all 17 regular-season games a year ago to finish as the RB1 in fantasy, recording 1,202 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns and 924 receiving yards with another seven scores through the air.


Week 1 Projections

Fant.
Pts.
Rush.
Yds.
Rush
TD
Rec. Rec.
Yds.
Rec
TD
8.0 23.9 0.2 2.5 16.7 0.1

Tyjae Spears News

Similar Year Incoming for Tyjae Spears?

Thursday, August 27, 9:02 PM

Tennessee Titans running back Tyjae Spears could be headed for more of the same in 2026. He remains the No. 2 option on the depth chart behind Tony Pollard, putting him in line to handle receiving work without a very sizable role on early downs. Across 13 games last year, Spears logged a career-low 283 rushing yards, but he did catch 45 passes for 264 receiving yards. Tennessee's offense may look a little different with Robert Saleh and Brian Daboll coaching the team and Wan'Dale Robinson and Carnell Tate added to the offense, but from a backfield perspective, not much has changed. We expect to see Tony Pollard go for another 1,000+ rushing yards and 6-8 touchdowns, leaving Spears to catch passes. The big concern is that Spears will be tough to trust week over week. Sure, he'll have some big games -- especially in PPR -- but his inconsistency will make it tough to know which weeks he's worth starting. As a result, he has a modest ranking as the RB44 in RotoBaller's latest fantasy football draft rankings. At that spot, he's not quite a weekly RB3/flex, but he could certainly jump into that tier if he's playing a weaker defense or has been getting more involved in recent weeks.


Christian McCaffrey vs. Tyjae Spears

Still trying to decide between McCaffrey and Spears? Check on the latest news to make sure both players are active and healthy. Our PPR projections show that Christian McCaffrey is projected to score 21.1 points this week while Tyjae Spears is projected to score 8.0 points.