San Francisco 49ersOur read
Written Sun 12:01 am Central, for week 6
Kaelon Black is stuck behind Christian McCaffrey in San Francisco, second among the club's running backs, and the touches have never come. Through week 5 of 2026 he's averaging 3 PPR points a game with zero touchdowns. The published projection has him at 5.4 points in PPR scoring for week 6. Washington allows 15.2 PPR points a game to running backs, 2nd of 32, a tough draw behind that depth chart. A manager holding him leaves him out of the lineup Monday night.
Written Oct 19, from his facts through last season
Everything about this roster spot says wait, and the first five weeks say don't. Kaelon Black sits second among SF running backs behind Christian McCaffrey, and the touches tell you exactly what that means: 1 of his team's 25 carries and targets inside the ten, 7 of 48 red-zone chances in his games, 37 carries through five weeks and two targets. The 3.0 points a game is not a slow start for a rookie, it is what the role actually is.
The preseason case for him was always the injury scenario. Our number had 59 points for the season on 12 expected games, the idea being that a third-round pick on a Kyle Shanahan team becomes fantasy-relevant if the back ahead of him goes down. McCaffrey has played every week so far and carries no designation, so that scenario is sitting unopened. Until it opens, Black is a name on a depth chart, and Shanahan himself calls the plays, which has not loosened anything for the backups.
There is a real downside here beyond the usage: our pace for him was 4.9 points a game, and he is running more than a point and a half under it with zero touchdowns since his 8-point week 1 of 2026. The yards after contact, 1.5 a carry, rank him mid-pack rather than promising a breakout that forces more carries. We would drop him and use the roster spot on a back with a live path. If you can stash him on a deep bench, the only thing worth waiting for is news on McCaffrey.