The Athletic has live coverage from Friday’s preseason NFL action.
Just as we all expected, the final two healthy players in the San Francisco 49ers’ training camp are Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle — legendary iron men.
Pretty much every other offensive skill player on the Niners is either currently injured or has recently recovered from some vaguely worrisome injury.
Jauan Jennings is dealing with a calf issue and a contract staredown. Isaac Guerendo (shoulder) and Jordan James (finger) are both dinged, and Ameer Abdullah (ribs) was placed on injured reserve. Standout rookie Jordan Watkins has a high-ankle sprain. Ricky Pearsall recently returned from hamstring trouble. We won’t see Brandon Aiyuk (knee) until perhaps mid-October.
As ever, head coach Kyle Shanahan’s camp is a wild carnival of pain and misinformation. Truly, it’s one of the NFL’s greatest traditions.
However, let’s circle back to McCaffrey because all the news and notes related to him have been exactly what we like to see: infrequent and generally positive.
Refreshingly, CMC has enjoyed a normal offseason. Reporters covering the team have clearly been impressed. When the occasional camp clip hits the feed, McCaffrey again looks superhuman:
CMC is unreal 🤯 pic.twitter.com/JbB8fjFfLO
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) July 29, 2025
You should, of course, still be slightly terrified to draft a 29-year-old running back coming off a season in which he appeared in only four games. I won’t try to convince you that the risk has simply evaporated.
Still, with every uninjured day, we can feel a bit more confident in a running back who was a golden ticket to the fantasy playoffs in 2023. McCaffrey’s name is near the top of the very short list of players who can legitimately finish as the overall RB1 in 2025.
Understandably, CMC has been one of the more significant ADP risers in NFC leagues since the calendar flipped to August. We don’t need to speculate on whether he can be a league-winner because we’ve already seen it happen in multiple seasons.
Thursday was simply an incredible day for NFL conspiratorialists
If you are the sort of NFL fan who believes the league is rigged in favor of the Kansas City Chiefs, one of its smallest markets … well, you are hilarious.
Also, yesterday must have been absolutely magical for you.
On Thursday, news broke that Rashee Rice’s disciplinary hearing will not be held until September 30, four weeks into the season. Rice will therefore be eligible to play in two of KC’s most challenging and exciting matchups, versus the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens, as well as a pair of island games against the Los Angeles Chargers and New York Giants.
So there it is, the smoking gun of Chiefs favoritism and exceptionalism. Again, congrats to all conspiracy-minded fans. What. A. Day.
In fantasy, this Rice news is not as rosy as it might ostensibly seem. On the one hand, he will be available in September, which is undeniably helpful. But we now face a somewhat more challenging roster management situation, because there’s a decent chance Rice will face suspension at some point during the season. The easiest time to deal with a multi-week absence is actually in the opening four weeks, when your roster is at its healthiest and the byes have not yet begun.
Good luck managing a potential suspension of four to six weeks while navigating the usual injuries and byes of October and November.
Thursday’s news doesn’t necessarily change the projection for Rice in the season ahead, but it does make him even more an agent of chaos and disruption. If you enter Week 7 with a 2-4 record and a suspended Rice on the roster, you should look to trade him.
Adonai Mitchell is still feasting
Every day, a new camp clip drops featuring Mitchell. You love to see a second-year breakout candidate making plays like this:
AD Mitchell, the showman pic.twitter.com/in7rjI4KBG
— Kevin Bowen (@KBowen1070) August 14, 2025
But, um, yikes — that is not a well-thrown ball.
The Indianapolis Colts’ camp is full of summer heroes, but we must remember Andrew Luck ain’t walking through that door. Daniel Jones is still Daniel Jones, and Anthony Richardson is coming off a season in which he averaged just 11.5 completions per game.
The Quinshon Judkins situation takes yet another turn
According to multiple reports on Thursday, Judkins will not face formal charges related to his July arrest for battery and domestic violence. It always feels terrible to reduce a situation like this to something as trivial as fantasy advice, but here we are.
Judkins had previously been toxic in drafts, but that will no longer be the case. He’s not yet under contract with the Cleveland Browns or entirely clear of league discipline, plus he hasn’t yet practiced with the team. Let’s not assume he’s just days away from taking over the Cleveland backfield. However, he’s a talented runner drafted as a foundational piece of this dreadful team’s offense. Judkins has certainly reentered the RB3/4 conversation.
Rome Odunze, Colston Loveland shining in Bears camp
It’s more than a drumbeat with these two. It’s the whole percussion section and all the weird stuff, too — gongs, cymbals, cowbells, etc.
Not a day goes by without tweets like these from beat writers:
Colston Loveland with a touchdown in 7 on 7s. Throw came from Tyson Bagent.
Loveland continues to impress this camp.
— Greg Braggs Jr. (@GBraggsJr23) August 14, 2025
Good day for Caleb Williams today. He was sharp out there. Connected with Rome Odunze a good amount, including two big plays in a 2-minute drill. #Bears
— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) August 14, 2025
Odunze and Loveland have already graduated from sleepers to must-draft breakouts, and the Chicago Bears haven’t even played their second preseason game. In another week, we might be drafting Odunze as a WR2.
No one wants to hear nice things about Trevor Lawrence, but…
Fantasy’s favorite target for derision and ridicule has been cooking in practice sessions. Lawrence might be the least generational of all the generational quarterbacks, but he has, nonetheless, been producing highlight plays in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ camp. He’s also the guy who gets to lob passes to Brian Thomas, Travis Hunter and sleeper Brenton Strange while operating in Liam Coen’s offense, so it’s tough to find fault with his situation.
If you can open your heart once more to a somehow-still-25-year-old quarterback with elite weapons and a weapons-grade arm, consider giving Lawrence one last chance.
ICYMI: Jacksonville’s Cam Little drilled a field goal from another dimension
Just look at this absolute bomb:
CAM LITTLE 70-YARD FIELD GOAL
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/OCIZ1W5M5f
— NFL (@NFL) August 10, 2025
Goodness. That was majestic.
If you’ve been reading Jake Ciely’s summer-long series on the top-50 kickers for 2025, then you already know about Little. In fact, Jake was all over him after his sensational first year at Arkansas in 2021. Yet another tremendous call by Ciely, the GOAT kicker analyst.
(Photo of Christian McCaffrey: D. Ross Cameron / Imagn Images)