The Carolina Panthers have drafted running back Christian McCaffrey with pick No. 8 in the 2017 NFL draft. He joins a backfield that currently includes Jonathan Stewart, Fozzy Whittaker, and Cameron Artis-Payne.
2017 NFL draft results: Fantasy implications of Christian McCaffrey to the Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers have drafted Christian McCaffrey in the 2017 NFL draft. We break down the fantasy implications
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The best dual-threat back in this year’s draft, McCaffrey was one of the most electrifying runners in college football for the last two years. The do-it-all back ran for 3,622 yards and 21 touchdowns on 590 carries (6.1 avg.) across 25 games over the past two seasons. He also caught 82 passes for 955 yards and eight scores.
However, durability concerns kept McCaffrey from going higher in this draft than he could have, and they also bring into question how much of a workload he’ll get as a rookie. Still, expect McCaffrey to have a major impact in his NFL rookie season as a back whose true fantasy value is in PPR leagues.
Fantasy Impact: Carolina provides a pretty ideal situation for McCaffrey. His running style is not suited to what Jonathan Stewart and company do, but his versatility means he will be doing more than just running between the tackles. And with Cam Newton back there, as well, it is going to be really interesting to see how they use McCaffrey.
He will be an immediate impact option as a rookie, particularly in PPR leagues. He will rank higher in PPR than standard leagues, but with enough snaps he maintains strong rookie value in both leagues. He’ll be a first-round pick for dynasty leagues, and gets the PPR bump in re-draft leagues.
