Fantasy Football Today - 🚨 Brian Robinson Jr. TRADED to 49ers! Fantasy Football Impact on 49ers & Commanders Backfields! (08/22 Fantasy Football Podcast)
Episode Date: August 22, 2025Bid on Draft-A-Thon items here! https://tilt...ify.com/@cbs-sports/fft-draftathon-2025 Brian Robinson Jr. has officially been traded from the Washington Commanders to the San Francisco 49ers, and the Fantasy Football Today crew is here to break it all down. What does this move mean for Christian McCaffrey’s usage and health? Is Isaac Guerendo still worth a roster spot? And who steps up in Washington’s backfield—how high should we draft Austin Ekeler and Jacory Croskey-Merritt? Could Chris Rodriguez Jr. become a sleeper pick? Adam Aizer, Jamey Eisenberg, and Dave Richard dive into the fantasy football implications for both teams, covering everything from redraft and dynasty outlooks to potential waiver wire adds. Whether you're prepping for your draft or managing your roster, this is a must-watch breakdown of one of the most impactful trades of the offseason. Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Shop our store: shop.cbssports.com/fantasy SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179 FOLLOW FFT Dynasty on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1 SUBSCRIBE to FFT DFS on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dfs/id1579415837 FOLLOW FFT DFS on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zU7pBvGK3KPhfb69Q1hNr?si=1c5030a3b1a64be2 Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hey, everyone.
I'm sure you saw the news that Brian Robinson was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a sixth round pick.
So what does this mean for the 49ers?
Who's the handcuff for Christian McCaffrey?
Who's our favorite commanders running back?
Well, I had a chance to ask Dave and Jamie about this on our CBS Sports Network show on Friday afternoon.
And here's what they said.
What is your fantasy reaction here?
I almost have no reaction.
I understand that Brian Robinson was a big time deal for the commanders
and the starter for them and all that.
Christian McCaffrey is still the unquestioned lead guy for the 49ers,
and I'm not moving him an inch in my rankings.
I still view him as a top five running back.
Who backs him up is a more interesting question
because Brian Robinson, you'd think, would immediately go into that role.
I'm not as sure.
Isaac Gorendo did a really good job last year as the backup running back in San Francisco.
He averaged over five yards per carry on zone runs.
Brian Robinson last year, it was Washington, so a different offensive line.
He was at 3.6 yards per carry on zone runs.
And we know the 49ers want to run a lot of that zone run scheme.
Robinson was better in power gap runs,
so maybe they use them a little bit more when they decide to go in that direction.
But I think fantasy managers really, they're going to benefit if they take Christian McCaffrey
because no one's going to want to draft Garendo,
no one's really going to want to draft Brian Robinson.
You can take your pick of those two 49ers running backs,
if you want to back up Christian McCaffrey
with another running back on your bench.
I think it's going to be Robinson
as the backup running back there for McCaffrey.
I agree with Dave.
This shouldn't make anybody panic about McCaffrey
where he's going in drafts.
It's perfectly fine.
Should be a top five overall pick.
As long as he's healthy,
he's going to dominate touches.
But now if he does miss time,
it will probably be a committee,
but I don't think they make this move
to go get Brian Robinson
if they were just sold on,
A, Garendo being completely fine
in that role,
and B, healthy,
which I think is the biggest thing.
Because right now you're looking at Garendo
dealing with an on and again off against shoulder injury.
Jordan James, who they drafted, dealing with a finger injury.
They've already put Patrick Taylor on IR.
They just have a slew of injuries in their backfield.
So making this type of move to get a veteran who can help them makes a lot of sense.
So in the event that we do have McCaffrey go down,
it's probably going to be a shared situation between Garando and Robinson.
I would lean slightly toward Robinson,
but a guy that you're only taking with one of your last picks.
Jamie, and then, Dave, give me your thoughts on the commander's backfield now
and how you're drafting them.
It's going to be messy.
I think we're going to see three guys sharing the ball at some point throughout the season.
and probably early on, it's going to be Echler staying in his same role,
maybe a slight uptick in playing time,
maybe a couple more carries,
but I think they like the two guys that they have to replace Brian Robinson,
Jr. and Jacori Kroski Merritt and Chris Rodriguez.
I think by the time we get to the middle to the end of the season,
little Bill is going to be a dominant force
and somebody that I want on a lot of my fantasy teams.
I think they make this move because they like what they see in him.
They've had Chris Rodriguez on their roster.
They know what he's capable of,
and they know that his ceiling is limited.
So he may have a short yarder's role.
He may get a couple of touchdowns early in the season.
This is the opportunity that they needed to get Jacori,
Krosky Merritt on the field.
Echler is 30-plus years old.
He is a passing-down specialist for this team.
That's what we saw last year.
This is going to be Little Bill by the little of season.
I told Dave this on CBS Sports HQ before.
I'm going to take to Kori Kroski-Mirrit ahead of Caleb Johnson at this point.
I just think there's a better situation for him in Washington than there is for Caleb Johnson
in Pittsburgh at the moment.
I wish I could be this excited about any of the commander's running backs because you're
very excited about Kroski-Merry.
And I get it.
He's fun.
He did a nice job running against the Bengals backups in the preseason game.
I'm not taking any of them until round nine at the absolute earliest.
And I am going to take Echler first because he catches passes,
because I agree with you.
I think he does take some of the carries away from both Crosky Merritt and Chris Rodriguez.
Does he get a lot of short yarders rushing touchdowns?
No, but that's why I'm taking him in round nine.
And I don't expect to start him in fantasy.
But we did see last year three games when there was no Brian Robinson,
and there wasn't any Crosky Merritt either.
He averaged over 15 PPR points per game, Echler did.
So I'm a little bit more enthused about Echler than I.
I was before at him, but it's not like I'm going out of my way to take him in round seven or
round eight. I'll take him in round nine when he's available, but it's to be on my bench to
begin the year. Okay, so for those of you who have been enjoying the offseason content and
the preseason content in season is where it's at. Okay, we're going to have content for you
every single day, starts and sits, add drops, trades to make, those types of things.
That's what's going to win you your league. So, subscribe, tell your friends, stay tuned.
We'll be back. Have a great weekend, everybody. See you later.