Christian McCaffrey vs Jeremiyah Love
2026 draft comparison · half-PPR
Updated Aug 19, 2026
Should you draft Christian McCaffrey or Jeremiyah Love?
Last season — 2025, per game
Full game log & past seasons
| WK | OPP | FPTS | RANK | ATT | YD | TD | TGT | REC | RYD | RTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SEA | 18.7 | RB5 | 22 | 69 | 0 | 10 | 9 | 73 | 0 |
2 | NO | 19.7 | RB5 | 13 | 55 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 52 | 1 |
3 | ARI | 19.0 | RB8 | 17 | 52 | 0 | 15 | 10 | 88 | 0 |
4 | JAX | 23.1 | RB8 | 17 | 49 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 92 | 1 |
5 | LAR | 23.9 | RB6 | 22 | 57 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 82 | 1 |
6 | TB | 20.6 | RB9 | 17 | 54 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 57 | 0 |
7 | ATL | 35.6 | RB1 | 24 | 129 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 72 | 0 |
8 | HOU | 8.3 | RB28 | 8 | 25 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 43 | 0 |
9 | NYG | 31.8 | RB1 | 28 | 106 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 67 | 1 |
10 | LAR | 13.6 | RB16 | 12 | 30 | 0 | 10 | 8 | 66 | 0 |
11 | ARI | 32.6 | RB2 | 13 | 81 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 40 | 1 |
12 | CAR | 23.7 | RB3 | 24 | 89 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 53 | 0 |
13 | CLE | 15.4 | RB12 | 20 | 53 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 0 |
14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
15 | TEN | 15.2 | RB14 | 22 | 73 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 0 |
16 | IND | 29.6 | RB3 | 21 | 117 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 29 | 2 |
17 | CHI | 26.1 | RB4 | 23 | 140 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 41 | 0 |
18 | SEA | 8.7 | RB23 | 8 | 23 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 34 | 0 |
Earlier seasons (2024)
| WK | OPP | FPTS | RANK | ATT | YD | TD | TGT | REC | RYD | RTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
8 | BYE | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
10 | TB | 13.7 | RB11 | 13 | 39 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 68 | 0 |
11 | SEA | 12.6 | RB16 | 19 | 79 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 27 | 0 |
12 | GB | 6.3 | RB31 | 11 | 31 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 37 | 0 |
13 | BUF | 7.7 | RB34 | 7 | 53 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 0 |
No NFL stats yet · draft capital unavailable
Latest takes
“He has head coach Kyle Shanahan, Christian McCaffrey , and a loaded offensive ecosystem.”
Samwise· Aug 19“He’s entering his age-30 season with a lot of miles on the tread. McCaffrey is absolutely capable of smashing, but he could also miss some games. Since 2020, he’s missed half the season or more three times.”
Kyle Zeigler· Aug 18“In a full PPR format, CMC represents one of the few RBs in the league who really benefits from the extra bump per reception. McCaffrey had a whopping 102 receptions last season and could very well be one of the main receiving weapons in San Francisco again in 2026.”
Kurt Mullen· Aug 14
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“Christian McCaffrey | RB, San Francisco 49ers Heading into what will be his 10th season in the NFL, Christian McCaffrey is coming off another season of monstrous volume.”
Kyle Lesti· Aug 11“Fantasy Football Research & Advice Fantasy Football Expert Rankings 2026 Fantasy Football Draft Kit Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: Pick 1.04 Players to Consider at 1.04 Fantasy Football Draft Pick These players will likely be available when you make your selection: Ja’Marr Chase (WR – CIN) Puka Nacua (WR – LAR) Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR – SEA) Christian McCaffrey (RB – SF) It’s fair to assume at least one of Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs will be gone, if not both, as they’re the consensus top two picks.”
Tom Strachan· Aug 11“Plenty of people have been hurt by fading Christian McCaffrey over the years, and it feels like a dangerous prospect when CMC was the RB1 in PPR points per game, scored 24.5 last year, 2.5 more than Bijan Robinson.”
Tom Strachan· Aug 9“McCaffrey fell to 1.95 YAC/A (41st among 51 running backs with at least 90 carries) and -0.54 RYOE/A (47th). Given his age and injury history I’d bet heavily against McCaffrey turning the tides on his declining rush efficiency. Fortunately, he showed absolutely no sign of decline as a receiving threat.”
Jakob Sanderson· Aug 8“McCaffrey is coming off a season where he touched the ball 400+ times and finished all but one week of the season as a top-24 RB. The biggest “if” with CMC is his health, but when he is on the field, he is a fantasy league winner.”
Kurt Mullen· Aug 7“Now, there are outliers — guys like Christian McCaffrey and Derrick Henry continue to defy the odds and crush it.”
Wolf Trelles-Heard· Aug 7“He's scored 20 TDs twice including last season when he finished as the RB2 overall behind Christian McCaffrey”
FFToday· Aug 6“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”
Chad Workman· Aug 6“2 running back in San Francisco behind Christian McCaffrey”
Mike Fanelli· Aug 6“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.”
FantasyPros Staff· Aug 5“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.”
Jordan Pullett· Jul 29“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.”
Jordan Pullett· Jul 29
“Jadarian Price (RB – SEA) Believe it or not, Jeremiyah Love isn’t the only highly-touted rookie running back drafted from Notre Dame this offseason.”
Evan Tarracciano· Aug 19“Cardinals rookie running back Jeremiyah Love is expected to miss the rest of the preseason after suffering a high ankle sprain in the team’s preseason opener over the weekend. Following the game, head coach Mike LaFleur told reporters that Love “could have returned” following his injury, but with this new diagnosis, Love’s availability for Week 1 is in question.”
Tucker Bagley· Aug 18“Jeremiyah Love went top five in the NFL Draft to the Arizona Cardinals, who already have Tyler Allgeier and James Conner on the depth chart. With that type of draft capital investment, I think Love will be Arizona’s lead back in 2026, but he could have his workload eaten into by Allgeier and/or Conner.”
FantasyPros Staff· Aug 11
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“You could also add a running back such as Breece Hall or Jeremiyah Love .”
Tom Strachan· Aug 11“That’s not likely to happen again after the team drafted a running back, Jeremiyah Love , No.”
FantasyPros Staff· Aug 5“Draft Jeremiyah Love , Jordan Love and Colston Loveland . Name your team “Love Island” after the popular reality show.”
Frank Ammirante· Aug 4“com/gbdOyXuR12 — Fantasy Footballers (@TheFFBallers) July 6, 2026 Jeremiyah Love is entering a situation very similar to the one Ashton Jeanty faced last year.”
Jordan Pullett· Jul 29“The question will be how much Tyler Allgeier gets involved in that role versus Jeremiyah Love having all of that work.”
Rich Hribar· Jul 24“Sleeper: Jeremiyah Love, Running Back (RB13, Pick 24 Overall) It’s hard to call the number three overall pick in the real-life NFL Draft (the highest since Saquon Barkley went second in 2018) a sleeper, but here we are. Jeremiyah Love isn’t the prospect that Ashton Jeanty was last season, but Jeanty’s fall from grace has folks hesitant about clicking the button on Love earlier than the second or third round.”
Jeff Krisko· Jul 22“Jeremiyah Love (ARI) and a future 2027 1st for Gibbs comes out to a fair price in the current market.”
Jonathan Lange· Jul 21“The Cardinals kept Conne r on a reworked deal, signed former Falcons RB Tyler Allgeier to what is pretty decent money for a free agent back, then topped it all off by drafting first-round RB Jeremiyah Love with the No. 3 pick. I’d say that’s pretty telling about where Benson stands in Arizona.”
Logan Ulrich· Jul 19“Love has all the talent in the world, and sure, maybe his receiving ability will pay huge dividends, but this is going to be a tough offense to work within to achieve the goals of being a top-10 fantasy football running back. The depth chart includes talent like Tyler Allgeier, who signed a sizable contract, as well as James Conner and Trey Benson.”
Richard Janvrin· Jul 12“Elite rookies like Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love offer early volume, but managers often overpay for youth or wait multiple seasons for clarity.”
Lawrence Iacona· Jul 9“Love was outstanding in college, averaging 6.9 yards per rushing attempt in back-to-back years, totaling at least 17 rushing touchdowns in both seasons. According to PFF, he averaged 4.5 yards after contact and a 32.7% forced missed tackle rate during his two years as the starter.”
Mike Fanelli· Jul 8“Jeremiyah Love enters 2026 with the clearest path to immediate fantasy relevance among rookie running backs. The Cardinals spent premium draft capital to make him the centerpiece of their backfield. Love enters the league with three-down credentials. He forced 22% missed tackles, posted a 16% explosive run rate and averaged 3.92 yards after contact at Notre Dame, while adding legit receiving chops that give him a built-in PPR floor.”
Dennis Sosic· Jul 6