McCaffrey gets a bye to recover. Keep the cover.

Keep Christian McCaffrey. Monday brought a clearer diagnosis, with San Francisco describing his injury as a mild hamstring strain after the initial thigh report. The club is optimistic about his recovery after its Week 8 bye. That gives you a reason for patience, and a reason to keep your backup plan.

Plan for the bye first

McCaffrey cannot solve Week 8 for you even if his recovery goes perfectly. Fill the immediate opening with a player whose team is playing. Leave room to react when San Francisco resumes practice, instead of spending the whole week arguing about whether an optimistic Monday update counts as clearance.

A manager with two healthy starting backs can wait. A manager whose other runner is also hurt needs a playable replacement now. Those are different waiver priorities, even though both rosters contain McCaffrey.

Black is insurance, with a wait attached

Kaelon Black ran 12 times for 63 yards and scored against Atlanta. That gives him a stronger case for a bench spot than a reserve whose only attraction is the name above him on the depth chart. He has shown that the 49ers will put him on the field.

He shares McCaffrey's bye, though. Adding Black protects the following week's decision; it doesn't fill this week's empty lineup slot. If you have only one place available and need a starter immediately, deal with the active-week shortage first.

Keep the longer view

For an All In or Playoff Gamble roster, preserve enough running-back cover to survive a slower recovery. A rebuilding roster can keep McCaffrey through the bye without treating every positive update as a deadline to act. None of those plans requires assuming Black has inherited a permanent lead job.

The useful checkpoint is the next working week's practices. A return to regular work would support keeping McCaffrey in your plans. Continued absence would make the reserve spot far more valuable.