When fantasy football's top player gets hurt, everyone stops and takes notice. When said player's next game is on Monday night, then things really get wild. That's the situation we're in ahead of Week 7's Monday Night Football matchup between the 49ers and Vikings. Christian McCaffrey's status is up in the air because of an oblique injury, and his fantasy owners are desperate for any updates before locking in their start 'em, sit 'em decisions.
We'll continue to update this article with news on McCaffrey until the official active/inactive report comes out on Monday around 6:45 p.m. ET.
MORE MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
DK lineup | Betting preview | Best props
Is Christian McCaffrey playing Monday night Week 7?
UPDATE: McCaffrey was limited in practice on Saturday and is officially "questionable."
UPDATE 2: ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Sunday morning that "all signs" point toward McCaffrey playing against the Vikings.
UPDATE 3: ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday afternoon that McCaffrey will start on Monday night in Minnesota.
UPDATE 4: McCaffrey is officially ACTIVE.
McCaffrey (oblique) hasn't practiced yet this week, but he's the type of player who can suit up even if he fails to see the practice field. The 49ers have been tight-lipped on the status of their star RB, and fantasy owners likely won't know if he's active until 90 minutes before game time. The game is in Minnesota, so it's possible CMC is ruled out in advance and doesn't even make the trip, but if he's on the team plane, the waiting game begins.
It goes without saying that McCaffrey is a must-start as long as he's active. Even at less-than-100 percent and with a lighter workload, he has top-10 upside. However, fantasy owners won't have many options if McCaffrey is scratched. Unless you have either Elijah Mitchell or Jordan Mason on your roster, you should put McCaffrey in your flex and have one of San Francisco's (Kyle Juszczyk, Jauan Jennings, Ray-Ray McCloud, Ronnie Bell) or Minnesota's (Cam Akers, Brandon Powell, Josh Oliver) secondary contributors ready to go. You'll just be hoping for a cheap TD, but at least you have a chance at some points.
Is it worth it to wait? It depends on your specific situation. If you're desperate for a win, you probably just want to play it safe, even if it means starting someone with a lower ceiling like D'Onta Foreman or Tyler Allgeier. If you want to go for bigger points or you feel comfortable with the rest of your roster, you can hold out for CMC and take the potential zero.
Similarly, you can't really count on either Jordan Mason or Elijah Mitchell in your lineup if McCaffrey's status is unknown. It's unclear who would lead the way if McCaffrey is out, but we slightly favor Mason, who's averaging 5.6 ypc this year and scored in each of the past two games. Both have RB2 upside if McCaffrey is out, but unless we get word on McCaffrey's status before Sunday afternoon, Mason and Mitchell are, at best, low-ceiling flexes. The ceilings are much higher without McCaffrey, but this situation is almost impossible to predict.
