Christian McCaffrey’s Season In Jeopardy

This has been a forgettable season for Christian McCaffrey. The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year missed nearly half the season due to a lingering Achilles injury; weeks after debuting, the star running back joined a few of the 49ers’ other standouts in being out of the mix.

McCaffrey left Sunday’s blowout loss in Buffalo with a knee injury, and Kyle Shanahan was quick to rule him out. Postgame, Shanahan said McCaffrey sustained a potentially season-ending PCL malady. An MRI is scheduled for Monday, ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner notes.

This would be a tough blow for the eighth-year back while underscoring the importance of securing guaranteed money. The 49ers authorized a two-year, $38MM extension this offseason, with the deal coming with $24MM at signing. McCaffrey, 28, played the lead role in powering San Francisco’s offense last season. With the former top-10 pick missing most of this season, the 49ers are in danger of falling out of the playoff mix. The defending NFC champs are now 5-7.

After a grim 2023, the running back position has seen a resurgence of sorts — in a macro sense. Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry and Joe Mixon are thriving on third contracts after changing teams. McCaffrey beat his peers in doing so, dominating between his October 2022 trade and Super Bowl LVIII. McCaffrey had shaken his Panthers-years injury trouble during the 2022 and ’23 seasons, not missing a game due to injury in that span. This season brought a regression for the dual-threat dynamo, and it has coincided with a brutal run of health for the 49ers.

San Francisco did not place McCaffrey on IR to start the season, but the Achilles issue did lead to such a move before Week 2. McCaffrey had been in play to suit up in Week 1, but the 49ers scratched him for that game. He then drifted out of the picture, going as far as making a trip to Germany for treatments that could potentially accelerate his recovery. McCaffrey did not debut until Week 10, but he immediately returned to a near-full-time workload. He logged 88% of the 49ers’ offensive snaps in Week 10 and then posted 82% and 94% snap rates over the past two 49ers games.

The 49ers had established a productive run game amid tonight’s Western New York snowstorm, and McCaffrey drove that effort during the early part of the game. He totaled 53 yards on seven carries, though his seventh tote brought lost yardage after a quick tumble to the turf. McCaffrey hobbled to the sideline, and the 49ers proceeded to fall behind 28-3. Both McCaffrey and Fred Warner exited the game due to injury, reminding of how far off track this 49ers season has veered.

Shanahan’s team played without Trent Williams and Nick Bosa tonight. Neither All-Pro is on IR or has been ruled out for Week 14, but the team has also battled numerous longer-term issues. San Francisco has missed Dre Greenlaw throughout the season, with the Achilles tear sustained while the veteran linebacker trotted onto the field for a first-half Super Bowl possession sidelining him throughout this season to date. Warner has played through a broken bone in his ankle. The 49ers lost recently extended wideout Brandon Aiyuk and high-priced defensive tackle Javon Hargrave for the season, and Talanoa Hufanga has joined McCaffrey in battling two significant injuries during the campaign. The All-Pro safety was still on the mend early due to the ACL tear sustained in November 2023, and he only squeezed in two games before a wrist injury shut him down.

This season reminds of the team’s previous NFC title defense, as the 2020 slate featured Bosa sidelined most of the way and then-QB1 Jimmy Garoppolo missing 10 contests. Both Deebo Samuel and George Kittle missed extensive time that year as well. The 49ers went 6-10 in 2020 but resurfaced by surging to the next three NFC championship games. The nucleus from San Francisco’s Super Bowl LIV team is still mostly intact. Bosa, Kittle, Warner, Greenlaw and Samuel are still rostered. But the group is obviously much older now. This season suddenly runs the risk of draining a year from several standouts’ primes.

McCaffrey became a hired gun to form a nucleus that featured four All-Pros at the skill positions, with Aiyuk earning second-team recognition last season. McCaffrey has burnished his credentials as a top-tier running back upon returning to the Bay Area; the Stanford alum won the rushing title last season (1,459 yards) and added 564 more through the air despite resting in Week 18. McCaffrey added 160 scrimmage yards in Super Bowl LVIII, a game that provided the most painful of the 49ers’ Shanahan-era big-game losses.

As McCaffrey appears likely to see his missed-games count balloon to 14 by season’s end, his career number would sit at 37 in that scenario. San Francisco’s top skill player would have been headed into a contract year in 2025, via his previous Carolina extension, but the offseason redo locks him in for 2025. No guarantees remain on McCaffrey’s deal beyond next season, but he did well to secure a guarantee that trails only Barkley’s among RBs this year, effectively ensuring he will be back in the 49ers’ plans in 2025.