Christian McCaffrey started the 2024 season injured and ended the 2024 season injured. In between, the star running back played just four games.
A Week 13 PCL injury in Buffalo ended his campaign, but didn’t require surgery.
“Christian is healthy,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said last week, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “He’s doing great.”
The 2024 campaign marked the third season in the past five years that CMC played fewer than seven games. When healthy, the back is a game-changing dual threat, but Shanahan knows he must have capable backups in case the injury issues persist.
“You always hope to address it every year,” Shanahan said of the running back position. “Of course, we’re set with McCaffrey, but every single year we’ve gone through this except for two years, we’ve gone through four running backs. Most teams do, so you always got to be prepared for that.”
The cost-conscious Niners watched Elijah Mitchell — also coming off injury — sign in Kansas City and traded restricted free agent Jordan Mason to Minnesota. Isaac Guerendo, a 2024 fourth-rounder, showed some burst last season, and the club brought back veteran Patrick Taylor. However, Shanahan underscored that the club is still looking to add to the position in the draft.
“We got Isaac in there working, and we’re pumped to get Patrick back,” Shanahan said. “And we’ll see if we can add someone in the draft. We’d like to every year.”
The Niners have other priorities early in the draft, particularly with a slew of defensive holes after the offseason attrition. However, using one of their 11 picks to add a running back in the middle-to-late rounds of a deep draft at the position makes sense, given McCaffrey’s injury history.
