Christian McCaffrey traded to 49ers: Fantasy football ramifications of blockbuster deal

The one-win Carolina Panthers agreed to trade star running back Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night in exchange for a collection of draft picks, including a second, third and fourth in 2023.

And just like that, there are no remaining Panthers who deserve starting consideration in fantasy football.

McCaffrey was doing heroic work this season in the NFL's least productive offense — he accounted for 158 of Carolina's 203 total yards last Sunday — and he's now joining a run-committed team loaded with talent. CMC and Deebo Samuel are perhaps the league's two most versatile offensive weapons and, for the remainder of the season, the pair will be lining up together — an absolute nightmare for opposing defenses. It's impossible to not view this deal as a huge win for McCaffrey, both in fantasy and reality. If you liked the production you were getting from him in an offensive wasteland, you're going to love the results when he's attached to a team that actually produces points.

San Francisco has completed only 19 passes to their running backs so far this year, among the lowest totals in the NFL, but we should trust that Kyle Shanahan and his staff intend to maximize McCaffrey's talents. CMC was averaging 111.7 scrimmage yards per game through six weeks, on pace for nearly 1,900 for the season. There's zero reason to think he can't continue to pile up yards at an identical rate for the Niners, but now with the likelihood of a weekly touchdown.

Again: McCaffrey is unquestionably a winner here. We can expect his usage to be somewhat limited in the matchup ahead against Kansas City given the timing of the deal, but it would be shocking if he didn't see the field in Week 7. He should rank as a playable RB on Sunday and the overall RB1 for the remainder of the season.

As for other fallout from this league-shifting trade ...

* Jeff Wilson Jr. should be dropped in most leagues by this time next week, but not before Sunday. We can expect him to get some run against KC, then very little moving forward. He'll have only contingent value as a backup to McCaffrey, although Elijah Mitchell's eventual return from IR will be an additional complication.

* If you had big second-half plans for Mitchell, those are toast as well. He'll have no more than a rotational role while McCaffrey is healthy. For now, you can keep him parked in your IR slot, but his rest-of-season outlook just got crushed.

* D'Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard are left to battle for scraps in Carolina's backfield. Both are on the radar as speculative pickups, but neither is likely to emerge as a must-start fantasy option. Foreman is a big back (6-foot-0, 235) who rarely makes anyone miss and hasn't distinguished himself as a receiver. If you want the primary goal-line runner attached to a team that never finds itself in goal-line situations, he's your guy.

Hubbard is more of a do-it-all back, though it's not clear he does anything unusually well. He wasn't exactly a season-saver for those who added him last year when McCaffrey was sidelined. Foreman has played 31 snaps this year to Hubbard's 30, so this situation reeks of committee. If you scooped up either of these players late on Thursday night, we'd advise you to shop them around your league before they actually take the field this week against Tampa Bay.

[Week 7 Fantasy Rankings: QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | FLEX | DST | Kickers]

* We can still hope for DJ Moore to escape the hopeless fantasy environment in Carolina, but, as of now, it sounds as if that would require a wow-offer. If he's not moved by the November 1 trade deadline, he too will be a drop candidate in fantasy. He's been unplayable to this point, thanks entirely to the Panthers dreadful QB situation. Last week, he caught three balls for seven yards on seven targets. Moore's fantasy value would of course soar if dealt to literally any other team.

Niners fans, please enjoy your newest unfair weapon. If San Francisco didn't already possess the firepower necessary to compete with the league's best teams, they certainly do now.