With injuries plaguing their roster, the San Francisco 49ers didn’t look like the team that made it to overtime in Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs just over a year ago. Barely managing six wins in 2024, the team sputtered on both sides of the football.
Of course, the biggest blow to their unit was losing its superstar running back, Christian McCaffrey. As the centerpiece of their entire attack, McCaffrey had excelled since coming to San Francisco. But an injury kept him out for essentially the entire 2024 season, and he played in just four games.
Christian McCaffrey’s Injury Struggles and the 49ers’ Offensive Uncertainty
Since first coming onto the scene at Stanford in an explosive 2015 campaign, the talent on display from McCaffrey has been undeniable. Tallying 3,864 yards in that season, it remains the NCAA record for most all-purpose yards in a single season. The Cardinal finished 12-2 that year, with McCaffrey carrying the offense on his back through the Pac-12 championship game.
His excellence was unparalleled, even coming into the NFL as a first-round pick. McCaffrey became the third player in league history to tally 1,000-plus receiving and rushing yards in a single season back in 2019 with Carolina. That season saw him rack up 1,387 rushing yards and 1,005 receiving yards, joining Roger Craig and Marshall Faulk in that exclusive club.
Christian McCaffrey was unreal at Stanford
pic.twitter.com/aXHUw9T9Su— WestCoastCFB (@WestCoastCFB) July 4, 2025
After joining the 49ers in 2022, he was a big reason for their run to the Super Bowl and ended up as an MVP finalist. In 2023, McCaffrey walked away with the Offensive Player of the Year award after leading the league in rushing yards with 1,459 yards to his credit.
The 2023 campaign marked McCaffrey’s return to elite form after injury-shortened seasons in 2020 and 2021. He appeared in 16 of the 17 regular-season games (started 15) and added three playoff appearances, totaling 14 touchdowns and 2,023 scrimmage yards. His receiving numbers were equally strong, with 67 catches for 564 yards and seven touchdowns.
However, even with all that talent, his injury history is the biggest knock against the former Carolina Panthers superstar. Despite ranking him fifth in the league and fourth in the conference among all running backs, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler had to give credence to an executive’s warnings.
“He’s a great player, but he’s always had durability issues, even in college,” an NFL personnel executive told Fowler. “He’s an elite trainer and takes great care of himself. He’s just not a big body and will lose a step eventually.”
An NFC scout added, “He’s still the prototype, and the best player on the field at times.”
Despite his undeniable talent and elite preparation, McCaffrey’s injury history casts a long shadow over his career. Scouting praise and executive concern point to the same unavoidable issue: his ability to stay on the field.
The Numbers Behind McCaffrey’s Injury History
It’s hard to ignore the questions about his durability when he’s missed 10 or more games in three of the past five seasons. That becomes even more prominent, considering that injuries have always plagued his career. The numbers paint a stark picture for a player who turned 29 in June.
After starting all 16 games in his first three NFL seasons from 2017 to 2019, the injury curse latched onto McCaffrey in the 2020 season. In 2020 alone, he dealt with a high ankle sprain, shoulder injury, and thigh strain that limited him to just three games.
The 2024 season proved particularly brutal for McCaffrey. He began the year dealing with Achilles tendinitis in both feet, which kept him out of the season opener and eventually landed him on injured reserve. After returning in November, he managed four games before suffering a PCL injury against the Buffalo Bills that ended his season.
Christian McCaffrey did in fact suffer his potentially season-ending PCL injury on this play — one play before he went down and then took himself out of the game. pic.twitter.com/iFbjkHiEhR
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 2, 2024
At 29 years old, it’s hard to ignore the toll playing such a heavy workload has put on him. Running backs historically see their production decline after age 28, and McCaffrey’s injury history only adds to those concerns. His 403 touches in 2019 represented one of the heaviest workloads in recent NFL history, and while it was more than five years ago, that tends to add up over time.
The gap between McCaffrey’s injury-free 2023 and injury-plagued 2024 was dramatic. In just four games during the 2024-25 season, he managed 348 scrimmage yards and no touchdowns. His 50 carries for 202 yards and 15 catches for 146 yards showed flashes of his ability, but staying on the field remains the biggest question.
When he’s on the field, there’s no question about his productivity and performance. McCaffrey remains one of the most dynamic players in football when healthy. But being on the field is increasingly becoming a complicated question and something the 49ers might have to make a tough decision about soon, especially with his contract carrying significant guaranteed money through 2025.
