The San Francisco 49ers will take on the Minnesota Vikings in the final matchup of Week 7 on Monday night. San Francisco awaits the injury status of running back Christian McCaffrey. He didn’t practice on Thursday or Friday and is dealing with an oblique injury. If he can’t play, the backfield is expected to be led by some combination of Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason.
Update — McCaffrey is going to play on MNF vs. the Vikings in Week 7, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. That means Mitchell should be in a secondary role with Jordan Mason tonight. Mitchell isn’t really a viable option in fantasy football unless you really need to start someone.
Fantasy Football analysis: 49ers RB Elijah Mitchell
Mitchell has played in only three games this season. He has 49 yards on 18 carries and three receptions for an additional two yards. When McCaffrey went down with an injury last week against the Cleveland Browns, Mitchell only had two carries for -3 yards in the loss.
Start or sit in Week 7 PPR leagues?
Mitchell can be started as a FLEX in 12-team leagues or larger, but only if McCaffrey is ruled inactive.
Mitchell likely will only have value if CMC is ruled out. He will still split the backfield with Mason, but we have at least seen Mitchell be relevant before in this offense. There should still be better options out there, but you could go with Mitchell if you have a lot of players on bye or ruled out with injuries.
Start or sit in Week 7 standard leagues?
Flex in 12-team leagues or larger if CMC is ruled out. Sit otherwise.
The Vikings allow the seventh-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. This wouldn’t really affect McCaffrey, but Mitchell would likely struggle in this matchup. Hopefully, you can find a player with a better matchup, but with six teams on bye and a slew of other injuries across the league,
Player(s) you would start ahead of Elijah Mitchell
I would start Jaleel McLaughlin, Jaylen Warren, Gus Edwards and D’Onta Foreman over Mitchell. As a FLEX, I would prefer Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Kadarius Toney, Elijah Moore and Josh Reynolds.