49ers Crush Rams 27-7, But Kaelon Black Steals the Fantasy Spotlight

San Francisco opened the season with a 27-7 beatdown of the Rams in Melbourne on Thursday night, and the box score barely told the story of who did the damage. Christian McCaffrey touched the ball just 15 times — a shockingly low number for the RB1 overall — and the 49ers still won by 20. George Kittle admitted he wasn't in shape less than nine months removed from a torn Achilles, and it didn't matter one bit.

The Rams were a mess, and there's a caveat worth stamping on this result: L.A. had spent 16 of the previous 44 hours on a plane while the Niners arrived a full week early. Fred Warner said the opponent seemed to wither as the game wore on. Fair. But even a jet-lagged version of a team that missed the Super Bowl by one win last year is a real opponent, and San Francisco handled them with authority.

The Rookie Who Changed the Math

Kaelon Black is the name to circle. The third-round pick was the only other active running back behind McCaffrey and led the team in carries with 14 for 65 yards. That's a 4.6 clip, and it means the 49ers may finally have a way to keep CMC's touch count sane. Kyle Shanahan trusting a rookie in Week 1 is not nothing — this is a coach who makes backs guess for years before handing them real volume.

For context, McCaffrey is our No. 1 overall back and posted a monster 417 PPR points across 17 games last season (2025). But his last-five-game form dipped 3.4 fantasy points below his own average, and he's a workload risk every single week. A capable handcuff who can genuinely produce changes the calculus for anyone holding CMC — and for the waiver wire generally.

The Purdy and Evans Angle

Brock Purdy wasn't sacked once behind a line that supposedly had questions, with Trent Williams shutting down Myles Garrett entirely. Purdy is our QB23 (No. 81 overall) after a 179-point 2025 across just nine games, and his last-five form trended up 3.7 points above his average. His new favorite target was Mike Evans, who reeled in six catches with a touchdown and three third-down conversions. Deebo Samuel flashed on a kick return but his 2025 form (188 PPR points, No. 24 WR) has been trending down — this offense now has more mouths to feed.

The move: grab Kaelon Black off waivers now, especially if you roster McCaffrey. He's both insurance and a standalone flex dart in a Shanahan run scheme. McCaffrey stays a locked-in every-week start regardless of the light usage — one game against a fresh Miami defense next Sunday at Levi's tells us whether the low touches were a plan or a blowout accident. Hold, don't panic.