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Christian McCaffrey warms up before a game against the Bucs.
The San Francisco 49ers might have a Christian McCaffrey problem. McCaffrey has dealt with many injuries throughout his career, but fortunately, has come back from them in a big way for the 49ers in recent years. He missed most of 2024 due to injuries, but that was after he played in a bulk of games for the 49ers in 2022 and 2023.
With the Carolina Panthers, he had injury-derailed seasons in 2020 and 2021.
When McCaffrey is on the field, there’s a strong argument to be made that he’s the top running back in the NFL. However, there are concerns about what that looks like after returning from a bilateral achilles tendonitis injury and a torn PCL.
“Christian is as ready as any player I’ve ever been around,” said Kyle Shanahan . “When he gets hurt, he’s got to rehab and get better. Right now he’s healthy as can be. We’ve got to kind of protect him from himself, but Christian has a good idea of what he needs to do right now. He’s doing a lot less than he normally would do, but I know he is excited on how healthy he feels and the fact that he can get out there.”
McCaffrey Looking Slow at OTAs
Some watching the San Francisco 49ers OTAs have grown concerned about McCaffrey. That includes Grant Cohn of Sports Illustrated, who said that the 49ers shouldn’t expect him to come back and turn the clock around.
If the 49ers believe that McCaffrey will be the same player that he was two years ago, they might be disappointed.
“McCaffrey will turn 29 in June. At his age, it’s unrealistic to expect him to turn back the clock and be someone he was two years ago. You never bounce back fully from bilateral Achilles tendonitis. Injuries always take a toll. So he might stay healthy this season, but I wouldn’t expect him to average 5.0 yards per carry like he did in the past,” he wrote .
Cohn later added that McCaffrey “didn’t have a fifth gear,” and “does not have the burst he used to have” during practices so far.
Could the Niners Load Manage McCaffrey?
The last thing the San Francisco 49ers want is for McCaffrey to deal with another injury throughout the campaign. For this team to be as good as it is looking to be, it needs its star to be ready to play.
Even if that means McCaffrey misses games here and there for the 49ers to be healthy when it matters most in the postseason, that’s what needs to happen.
“We’ve got to protect him from himself, but Christian has a good idea of what he needs to do right now,” said Shanahan. “He’s doing a lot less than he normally would do, but I know he is excited about how healthy he feels and the fact that he can get out there.”
It’ll be interesting to see how they tackle this issue, but they need the McCaffrey of 2023, who rushed for 1,459 yards and 14 touchdowns.
He’s clearly one of the best in the NFL, but the injuries have started to add up in a major way, something that can no longer be ignored.
Jon Conahan covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. Since 2019, his sports coverage has appeared at Sports Illustrated, oddschecker, ClutchPoints and Sportskeeda. More about Jon Conahan
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