Christian McCaffrey vs Ashton Jeanty

“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. But for fantasy purposes, that simply didn't matter, as McCaffrey saw 129 targets, more than A.J. Brown, Courtland Sutton, Keenan Allen or Zay Flowers had. McCaffrey was the RB1 in points per game, scoring 2.5 points more than the RB2.”

“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, which ranked 48th among running backs with 50+ rush attempts, while also ranking 47th in yards after contact per attempt.”

“McCaffrey saw 129 targets, more than A.J. Brown, Courtland Sutton, Keenan Allen or Zay Flowers had. McCaffrey was the RB1 in points per game, scoring 2.5 points more than the RB2.”

“But for fantasy purposes, that simply didn't matter, as McCaffrey saw 129 targets, more than A.J. Brown, Courtland Sutton, Keenan Allen or Zay Flowers had. McCaffrey was the RB1 in points per game, scoring 2.5 points more than the RB2.”

“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.”

“McCaffrey recently turned 30, and while he can maintain his value in the receiving game, the cliff edge can come fast for running backs.”

“McCaffrey is coming off one of his worst rushing performances of his career, averaging 3.9 yards per carry, his lowest mark since 2020 in Carolina. This ranked 48th among running backs with 50+ rush attempts. He also ranked 47th in yards after contact per attempt and 29th in missed tackles forced.”

“Last season, Christian McCaffrey finished as the RB1, averaging 24.5 PPR fantasy points per game, totaling 45.8 more fantasy points than any other running back. However, McCaffrey had 413 regular-season touches last year, a career-high. Unfortunately, the last time he had over 375 touches in a season, McCaffrey missed 13 games the following year.”

“McCaffrey says he's had heavy workload seasons where he felt rough after and some he felt great after, making it all about how he prepares mixed with some luck. "Sometimes you can get through a season with 400-plus touches and feel great, and sometimes you might only put in three games and you feel terrible. I've experienced both."”

“Coming off a year where McCaffrey had five games with at least 30 touches, HC Kyle Shanahan has talked about reducing the star's workload as he ages. McCaffrey said he obviously doesn't want the ball less, but he's still preparing his body to be ready to handle 35 touches a game.”

“McCaffrey turns 30 on June 7th, and while 129 targets last year isn't to be sniffed at, this bet does feel slightly thin at times. McCaffrey is a stronger pick slightly later than this.”

“The trouble is that McCaffrey PPR scammed his way to first place with his worst rushing production in a while. His 3.9 yards per carry was 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.”

“Jeanty is a volatile pick who could fail to live up to the expectations that accompany his fantasy football ADP, despite a massive ceiling if the Raiders' offensive line gels and new quarterback Mendoza clicks right away.”

“Despite a massive workload last season, Jeanty was only the RB17 in half-PPR points per game (12.8) among running backs with at least eight games played, and volume alone won't assure Jeanty pans out and finishes as an RB6 or better this season.”

“It's going to be an uphill battle for Mike Washington to dominate backfield touches, given that the Raiders have an all-time running back prospect ahead of him with Ashton Jeanty.”

“Raiders RB coach Omar Young said the team has put RB Ashton Jeanty "in all different kinds of positions to see exactly what he can and cannot do."”

“Ashton Jeanty finished the 2025 season with 245.1 PPR points, one of only two rookies to score more than 215.0 points.”

“Ashton Jeanty was the only rookie to finish as an RB1 in PPR scoring, ending the year as the RB11.”

“Raiders HC Klint Kubiak says the team plans to challenge RB Ashton Jeanty in his sophomore season and put pressure on him in order to get the best out of last year's first-round pick. "We want to put a lot of pressure on Ashton," Kubiak said. "The next guy that steps up, whoever that may be, that's going to be seen here in practice, OTAs and training camp, but we think we should continue to challenge Ashton and get more out of him."”

“Fitzmaurice drafted Ashton Jeanty over Jonathan Taylor late in the first round. Fitz explained that Jeanty survived terrible offensive circumstances last season and still managed double-digit touchdowns. The expectation now is that Las Vegas will field a significantly improved rushing environment thanks to offensive line upgrades and a coaching staff expected to lean heavily on the run game.”

“Jeanty enters his second season facing brutal run defenses while potentially sharing touches; the breakout can still happen because the talent is undeniable, but the schedule definitely lowered the margin for error.”

“The talent is exciting, and the situation is favorable. The schedule, however, is horrifying. The Raiders landed one of the toughest schedules, the second-lowest projected win total, and the single hardest schedule against opposing run defenses.”

“Ashton Jeanty was supposed to come in and ignite this ground game, but the Raiders averaged only 77.5 rushing yards per game — the next-closest team was Arizona at 93.1 each week.”

“We knew Vegas would add a running back in this draft because the Raiders' depth behind Ashton Jeanty is nonexistent. However, with Washington, I do have legitimate concerns because his size and skillset leans to him being more of the short-yardage and goal line contributor between the pair. I do caution against overreacting because it's entirely possible his contribution will have minimal fantasy effect on Jeanty.”