Fantasy Injury Updates: Latest news on Christian McCaffrey, James White affecting Week 4 waiver pickups

Christian McCaffrey and James White left last week’s games early with lower-body injuries causing ripple effects throughout the top and middle of the RB rankings. We’ll dive into the latest news surrounding these two backs, what it might mean for other RBs on their teams, and how their absences could affect Week 4 fantasy waiver pickups and rankings. As always with our injury updates, we’ll continue to update these posts with the latest information.

For updates on banged-up WRs, including A.J. Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Sterling Shepard, Tyler Lockett, and more, click here. For all the latest fantasy news, follow us on Twitter @SN_Fantasy.

WEEK 4 STANDARD RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker

Christian McCaffrey injury update

The consensus No. 1 overall pick in fantasy drafts is once again dealing with an injury, but this time, it was his hamstring that is cause for concern. Matt Rhule said McCaffrey would be out a few weeks, but we’re not sure exactly how long that means. What we do know is this is a big blow for owners lucky enough to have drafted at No. 1 overall, and now those owners have big shoes to fill. 

The most obvious replacement is his backup Chuba Hubbard. The rookie was a fourth-round draft pick, so Carolina obviously brought him in as an insurance policy to CMC. In his first career start, he’ll have a nice matchup with Dallas in Week 4. We rank him RB18 in PPR and RB20 in standard leagues. So, unfortunately, we don’t expect RB1 production here, but it is possible.

If you can’t acquire Hubbard we have some more fill-in options in our best waiver and free agent pickups for Week 4.

WEEK 4 PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker

James White injury update

White, one of the game’s best receiving backs, was carted off the field with a hip injury against New Orleans. For now, we’re not sure what the severity of his injury is, but we’ll update this post with further news as it comes along.

WEEK 4 WAIVERS: Top pickups

None of the Patriots’ RBs look all that attractive if White is sidelined. Damien Harris isn’t likely to see a big uptick in his passing-game work, and J.J. Taylor is unlikely to be a feature back. Oh, and remember Rhamondre Stevenson? Yeah, Bill Belichick doesn’t either. Hopefully, you weren’t relying heavily on White, but check our Week 4 waiver pickups list if you were.