🏆 TNF Recap: McCaffrey is still a must-start. He just became a different kind of asset.

McCaffrey led the team in touches but Black led in carries. If this workload split sticks, returning first-round value is going to be harder — and Black is already the top waiver add for Week 2.

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September 11, 2026 11:29am EDT

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TNF Recap: The McCaffrey Situation Just Changed. Here's What to Do About It.

We had the first Thursday Night Football Game of the season last night between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, which was a very interesting game from a fantasy perspective.

The 49ers and Rams have been two of the more consistent teams in how they’ve used their players in the past. Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, and their top two healthy receivers rarely left the field in recent years, while Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams have been must-start players, and their tight ends rotated too much to be fantasy relevant. Each team made subtle to significant changes in how it used its running backs, wide receivers and tight ends. The most significant was the 49ers' backfield.

Each season, the 49ers talk about reducing McCaffrey’s workload to help keep him healthy. This season appears to be the year San Francisco is following through. During the preseason, Kaelon Black won the backup job, in part because he stayed healthier throughout training camp. It became even clearer that Black was the No. 2 option when Jordan James was a healthy inactive for this game. That left San Francisco with only two true halfbacks, although Kyle Juszczyk and Deebo Samuel are capable of playing halfback in an emergency.

Black played five snaps in place of McCaffrey on the first drive alone. The 49ers had even longer opening drives at times last season, and McCaffrey was taken off the field for no more than three plays. McCaffrey remained the preferred option on third downs, in short-yardage situations and near the goal line, but the early-down snaps were split far more evenly than at any point during his time in San Francisco outside of his first few weeks after joining the team midway through the 2022 season. McCaffrey led the backfield in touches, but Black led the team in carries, and both running backs were effective.

McCaffrey could become more involved as the season progresses after dealing with an injury during training camp. However, if the 49ers are winning most of their games, Black could continue rotating in early and taking over much of the work late in games. McCaffrey remains a must-start fantasy option, particularly because of his receiving ability, but returning first-round value will be much more difficult if he isn’t consistently reaching 15 touches per game. Meanwhile, Black has emerged as the biggest waiver-wire target for Week 2 so far.

Check out the Thursday Night fantasy recap to find out more on the 49ers wide receiver and tight end situations, as well as what the Rams are doing differently this season.

GET THE FULL TNF RECAP & ANALYSIS

Nathan Jahnke

Lead Fantasy Football Analyst

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🏆 TNF Recap: McCaffrey is still a must-start. He just became a different kind of asset.

McCaffrey led the team in touches but Black led in carries. If this workload split sticks, returning first-round value is going to be harder — and Black is already the top waiver add for Week 2.

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