The 2024 season did not go the way Christian McCaffrey and the San Francisco 49ers wanted.
McCaffrey dealt with calf and Achilles injuries during training camp and was eventually revealed to have bilateral Achilles tendonitis. He began the season on injured reserve and didn’t return to the lineup until Week 10, at which point he lasted just four games before suffering a season-ending knee injury. He totaled a mere 50 carries for 202 rushing yards on the season, adding 15 catches for 146 yards, and zero total touchdowns.
Coming off a season wherein McCaffrey was named Offensive Player of the Year, having led the NFL in rushing yards, touches, yards from scrimmage and total touchdowns, it was a massive disappointment — especially after he had signed a significant contract extension during the offseason.
Now several months removed from the end of his 2024 season. McCaffrey is healthy, according to 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who says he’s happy about the depth the team has in the running back room.
“Of course we’re set with McCaffrey, but every single year we’ve gone through this — except two years — we’ve gone through four running backs. Most teams do,” Shanahan said, via the Mercury News. “You always have to be prepared for that. But Christian is healthy and doing great. We have Isaac [Guerendo] in there working. Was pumped to get Patrick [Taylor] back. We’ll see if we add someone in the draft, but you’d like to have one every year.”
Shanahan has often paid lip service to using other backs to spell McCaffrey, but has rarely actually done so in practice. Even after returning from his injuries this past season, McCaffrey played at least 81% of the snaps in each of his first three games before getting injured in the fourth contest. In 2023, he topped an 80% snap rate in nine of 16 games and even played 100% of snaps three different times.
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Jared Dubin
Time will tell if the Niners are actually willing to give him a break this year, but given that he’ll be 29 years old and has FOUR 300-plus-touch seasons under his belt, they really should be — even if he’s fully healthy after an injury-challenged season.
