Fantasy football buzz: Don’t believe the player — Christian McCaffrey will see fewer touches in 2026

Everything that happens in the NFL has additional context when viewed from a fantasy football perspective. From position battles to injuries and so much more, the news cycle will constantly affect player values in fantasy football.

Our Fantasy Football Buzz file, with contributions from our ESPN fantasy writers and our NFL Nation reporters, aims to provide fantasy managers with the intel they need as news breaks around the league.

June 1: Don’t believe the player: McCaffrey will see fewer touches

Eric Karabell: What is San Francisco 49ers star RB Christian McCaffrey supposed to say? That yes, he is concerned about yet another injury? Or that he doesn’t want the football a million times again? That he isn’t in absolutely awesome condition prepping for the season?

Reporters questioned McCaffrey at OTAs late last week and the future Hall of Famer — sounding a tad defensive as his coach Kyle Shanahan continues to proclaim the team wishes to lower his irresponsible (my word, not his) workload — proudly said “you prepare yourself for playing every snap” and “workload is really monitored in practice” and other stuff we must ignore.

I may be on an island on this one since McCaffrey is an annual headliner of my “Do Not Draft” list and — note to editors, spoilers ahead — he will be again, but I’m going with Shanahan on this one because this is obvious. After all, coach talk in May typically tends to be the proverbial “same old thing,” vague and easily dismissed, but Shanahan and his coaches are smart. They know they were quite fortunate to coerce a career-high 413 touches from McCaffrey, who turned them into more than 2,100 yards from scrimmage, 17 touchdowns and a league-leading 416.6 fantasy points.

History tells us the past two seasons McCaffrey came off a wildly inflated touch total were 2020 and 2025, and he managed to participate in a total of seven games in those seasons, ruining the 49ers and, for our purposes, myriad fantasy campaigns. It is, frankly, a small miracle this man handled 413 touches last season sans something breaking or tearing.

McCaffrey turns 30 this coming Sunday. We didn’t need the 49ers coach telling us McCaffrey would fall short of 400 touches again, nor do we need McCaffrey telling us we have nothing to worry about. We know we have something to worry about. We always do.

Perhaps this is merely a reminder that it doesn’t really matter so much what anyone says over the next three months, unless it does (you know, like actual injuries or depth chart stuff). Read all the offseason quotes you can from OTAs and camps and everything else, then decide for yourself what matters and what does not.

I feel like I could have written this little story last December, before the 2025 regular season even ended. Praise McCaffrey, a top-five fantasy scorer in five of his nine seasons, while still questioning the future. It’s great that he is saying all the right things, but we fantasy managers can also do all the right things — like cutting through the noise and expecting less from McCaffrey in 2026.

Eric Karabell: Beckham Jr. signing with the New York Giants is quite a nostalgic story, but he is hardly the same magician who once was the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year and was selected to three Pro Bowls. Beckham, now 33, is a depth addition for the Giants, perhaps a bit more notable with current star Malik Nabers (knee) questionable for September action, but even then, there is little statistical upside here.

This version of Beckham is a journeyman, having played for the Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins from 2021 through 2024 (he sat out the 2022 and 2025 seasons), intriguing fantasy managers in name only for that overhyped span. Beckham, derailed by injuries and controversy for years, caught 35 passes for 565 yards for the 2023 Ravens, and he gets reunited with head coach John Harbaugh, but this is not the same situation.

While we may question if the awesome Nabers, still on the mend from an ACL tear and other knee concerns, will be ready to perform in Week 1 in September, the Giants have younger, more productive depth lurking in Darius Slayton and newcomer Darnell Mooney. The WR corps also features Calvin Austin III, Malachi Fields and Isaiah Hodgins, as well as JuJu Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios, two more veterans that were signed on Monday. It seems unlikely Beckham, even if he had a great opportunity for targets, would shine after so many years not doing so. It’s a fun signing, reminding many of yesteryear, but fantasy managers can ignore it.

Njoku’s one-year deal with the Chargers gives Justin Herbert another experienced playmaker in the red zone, but fantasy managers should view the veteran tight end as more of a rotational TE2 than a weekly starter. Njoku is now two seasons removed from his breakout 2023 campaign, in which he posted an 81-882-6 receiving line and finished sixth at the position. Since then, injuries and declining usage have become concerns. Njoku’s route participation dropped significantly in 2025, and he managed just 33 catches for 293 yards and four touchdowns in 12 games. While Njoku still maintained a healthy end zone target share last season, relying on touchdown production alone is rarely a reliable weekly fantasy strategy, even with Herbert at quarterback.

The signing could slightly lower expectations for ascending second-year TE Oronde Gadsden, who impressed as a rookie with 49 catches for 664 yards and three scores. Meanwhile, in Cleveland, the fantasy winner is Harold Fannin Jr. After overtaking Njoku midway through 2025, Fannin exploded for a 72-731-6 rookie season while commanding a massive target share from Week 7 onward. He finished as the TE6 last season, and with Njoku officially gone, Fannin enters 2026 firmly in the TE1 conversation with legitimate top-five upside. — Eric Moody

This signing gives Minnesota one of the deeper receiving groups in the league, but it also creates intriguing fantasy football ripple effects for Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and Kyler Murray. Jennings is coming off a solid 2025 season with the San Francisco 49ers, in which he finished with 55 receptions for 643 yards and nine touchdowns while showcasing his versatility as both a slot receiver and physical outside weapon. He also averaged 11.6 fantasy points per game.

For Jefferson, the signing slightly lowers his overall ceiling but shouldn’t drastically impact his WR1 status. Jennings gives defenses another physical presence to account for, which could help reduce double teams on Jefferson, but the Vikings’ target tree is no longer as concentrated. Jefferson already saw his production dip in 2025 amid inconsistent quarterback play, finishing with career lows in yardage, touchdowns and catch rate despite commanding a career-high 30.1% target share.

Addison may actually benefit in certain matchups, as Jennings’ size and blocking ability allow the Vikings to move Addison around the formation more freely. Meanwhile, Murray gets a significantly improved supporting cast if he wins the starting job over J.J. McCarthy, and when combined with his rushing ability, he could work his way back into the weekly QB1 conversation. Consider Murray in the middle-to-late rounds of fantasy drafts. Jennings’ arrival also strengthens Minnesota’s red zone offense and gives the veteran QB another reliable intermediate target capable of winning contested catches. — Eric Moody