According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Carolina Panthers have signed Christian McCaffrey to a four-year extension, making CMC the highest-paid back running back in NFL history at around $16 million per season.
While this will certainly reignite the validity of signing running backs to long-term contracts argument, there's no denying McCaffrey's effectiveness, highlighted by a monster 2019 season that included 1,387 yards rushing, 1,005 yards receiving (on 116 catches) and 19 total touchdowns.
While McCaffrey undoubtedly had a huge 2019 campaign by all statistical measures, what can we expect from him next season?
Let's take a look at his 2020 projections and fantasy football ranking.
Christian McCaffrey's Projections for 2020
Our Director of Predictive Analytics, Sean Koerner, is projecting McCaffrey for 1,227 yards on the ground with 11.7 rushing touchdowns, suggesting that regression is looming.
For comparison's sake, DraftKings Sportsbook has set McCaffrey's 2020 rushing yardage over/under at 1,350.5 yards, indicating there's currently value on the under.
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Koerner is also projecting CMC to catch 97 passes for 811 yards and 4.4 TDs. While those projections imply he could see a dip in receptions and yardage from 2019, they also imply he could see an increase from his four receiving touchdowns last season.
Christian McCaffrey's 2020 Fantasy Football Ranking
Even if McCaffrey's stats do come back down to earth a bit next season, he's still the consensus top-ranked player in our experts' 2020 fantasy football rankings.
Koerner, along with Matthew Freedman and Chris Raybon, have McCaffrey as not only the No. 1 player at his position, but also the top player overall.
