Christian McCaffrey 2025 Season in Review

Christian McCaffrey finished 2025 as the number 1 running back in total PPR scoring AND the number 1 running back in PPR per game — that's the whole headline. After an injury-wrecked 2024, he played all 17 games and reminded everyone what a true bell-cow workload looks like in modern football. The 49ers built the offense around him as a runner and a receiver, and the dual-threat usage absolutely smashed. The efficiency numbers tell a more complicated story than the fantasy finish — but when you touch the ball 440 times and score 17 touchdowns, the box score wins.

Now let's dig into the numbers. McCaffrey averaged 24.5 PPR points per game on a workload almost no other back in football touched — 311 carries plus 129 targets, with a 23 percent target share that's elite for any running back in any era. The receiving line carried a ton of the freight: 102 catches, 924 yards, 7 receiving touchdowns, paired with 1,202 rushing yards and 10 rushing scores, tied for tenth in the league. But the efficiency under the hood was pulling against him — 3.9 yards per carry, and a rushing yards over expected mark of minus 166, or minus 0.5 per attempt, which ranked 46th among qualified runners. This wasn't vintage hyper-efficient McCaffrey on the ground. This was volume, touchdowns, and pass-game work doing the work. And the consistency was the cleanest part of the profile — a rock-steady floor. He topped 17 PPR points in 14 of his 17 games, with only Houston at 9.8, the finale at 11.7, and a quiet 15.7 against Tennessee dipping below. Six games above 27, no zeroes, no missed weeks. That's the floor that wins fantasy regular seasons.

The play that captures the year came in Week 9 against the Giants — fourth quarter, 7:42 left, third and 9 from the 9, 49ers up 34-27. Shotgun, Purdy, short left to McCaffrey, walks it in. Third down, red zone, conversion and a score on one snap. That's his 2025 fantasy season in a single play. He wasn't winning weeks with breakaway runs — he was winning them by being the guy San Francisco trusted on every critical down, in every part of the field, as a runner and a receiver. The number 1 running back in fantasy. Full stop.