A.J. Brown vs Christian McCaffrey

“There’s no doubting Brown’s talent; however, I do wonder if the way to replace a slot receiver (Diggs) that was the key piece of your offense is to add a physical outside receiver like Brown. There are also my concerns about his knee in the long term.”

“At 28, Brown is a big upgrade for a Patriots passing game that ranked fifth in the league, a huge improvement from the Eagles’ 27th-ranked unit.”

“A.J. Brown was the round two pick, built on a significant situational upgrade. His new offense ranked ninth in neutral passing rate last year, compared to his old offense’s 15th-ranked mark, and that gap could widen further with continued quarterback development, a new star receiver alongside him, and a tougher schedule that should force more passing.”

“Even in a “down” season, Brown topped 1,000 yards receiving on a run-first offense and scored seven touchdowns. In ESPN’s open score and PFF’s receiving grade — both metrics that seek to evaluate a wide receiver’s performance even if he’s not targeted on a passing play — Brown ranked No. 9 and No. 13 out of over a hundred wideouts.”

“Getting AJ Brown, who was the WR5 over the final seven games of 2025, cannot hurt Maye. All three Ballers think he is a receiver who could truly finish as the WR1 overall.”

“Brown gives Drake Maye the true alpha this offense needed. Now he climbed into Maye's draft pocket, and while he can still pay off pick 16, the price feels closer to stacking tax than pure value.”

“Andrew Erickson isn't worried about A.J. Brown's "down" season. He believes it created a buying opportunity. Despite modest touchdown totals last year, Brown still produced at a high level while commanding an elite target share. Erickson expects Josh McDaniels to feature Brown as the unquestioned focal point of New England's passing attack. If that happens, Brown could easily return to top-three fantasy wide receiver production.”

“A.J. Brown and Dallas Goedert each missed just one game due to injury. Brown has since been traded.”

“Repeating a first-place ranking in both categories is unlikely, and it will be even more challenging if the offensive line can't take a step forward in protecting Maye, even with A.J. Brown added to the receiver room.”

“Since entering the league in 2019, Brown has consistently demonstrated an ability to rack up massive yards after the catch (YAC) numbers, but has never been a true volume-based receiver. If one were to remove his totals for the 2023 season (which was an outlier), Brown averaged fewer than 70 receptions per season.”

“The analysts believe fantasy managers may be underestimating just how much upside exists in A.J. Brown's new situation. Derek Brown pointed to improvements in offensive philosophy and red-zone passing opportunities as reasons for optimism, and there was confidence that Brown remains one of the league's premier target earners.”

“In a putrid Eagles' passing attack last season, Brown was ninth in target share, 13th in air yards and eighth in red-zone target share. Now he moves to a team with an ascending passing quarterback and an offense that targets its receivers downfield.”

“Now, there are outliers — guys like Christian McCaffrey and Derrick Henry continue to defy the odds and crush it.”

“He's scored 20 TDs twice including last season when he finished as the RB2 overall behind Christian McCaffrey”

“Mason was the RB9 in week’s 1-7 in 2024 while filling in for Christian McCaffrey and found himself as a popular zero RB target a year ago after a trade to the Vikings”

“2 running back in San Francisco behind Christian McCaffrey”

“6 | Diff: +22 Kaelon Black looks to have an early edge to climb into the clear RB2 spot on the 49ers’ depth chart behind Christian McCaffrey , with Jordan James now dealing with a rib fracture.”

“2 Something to note is that while Christian McCaffrey did not reach the total rushing attempts needed to hit this criterion last season, he did have 311 carries, along with 102 receptions, putting his total workload at a similar number.”

“Top-12 Drafted RBs in 2025 RB 2025 ADP 2024 Finish 2025 Games Played Bijan Robinson RB1 RB3 17 Saquon Barkley RB2 RB13 16 Jahmyr Gibbs RB3 RB4 17 Christian McCaffrey RB4 RB1 17 Derrick Henry RB5 RB7 17 Ashton Jeanty RB6 RB12 17 Josh Jacobs RB7 RB15 15 De’Von Achane RB8 RB6 16 Jonathan Taylor RB9 RB2 17 Bucky Irving RB10 RB33 10 Chase Brown RB11 RB8 17 Kyren Williams RB12 RB9 17 2025 RB Health Last season, nine out of 12 top RBs drafted finished as an RB1, resulting in a mostly chalky season at the top for RBs.”

“The last time McCaffrey had over 400 touches in a year, the superstar missed 69.7% of the games over the next two seasons because of injury.”

“But he is entering his age-30 season with a lengthy injury history, fresh off a year with 400+ touches. Taking McCaffrey at ADP feels like a recipe for disaster.”

“Players such as Christian McCaffrey , Jahmyr Gibbs , Bijan Robinson and De’Von Achane all cleared 60 receptions last season. They produce in every phase of the game.”

“McCaffrey was the RB1 in points per game, scoring 2.5 points more than the RB2. Once again, the 49ers did very little to persuade us that they don’t believe in McCaffrey’s ability to be a workhorse, instead continuing their habit of talking up a later-round dart throw at the position, who’ll likely struggle to see any involvement.”

“Players to Target at 1.08 Fantasy Football Draft Pick Christian McCaffrey (RB – SF) It’s true that Christian McCaffrey is coming off quite a poor year by his standards in the ground game, rushing for 3.9 yards per carry, his lowest mark since 2020 in Carolina. This ranked 48th among running backs with 50+ rush attempts, while also ranking 47th in yards after contact per attempt and 29th in missed tackles forced.”