San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey has yet to make his season debut, but all signs point to him returning soon. Here’s the latest on McCaffrey’s injury and when we might see the reigning Offensive Player of the Year back on the field.
What Is Christian McCaffrey’s Injury?
McCaffrey has spent the entirety of the 2024 campaign on injured reserve while battling Achilles tendinitis in both legs. He sought treatment from a specialist in Germany, and the injury was way worse than the 49ers initially suspected based on head coach Kyle Shanahan’s comments during the preseason (when he referred to it as a minor calf strain) and after Week 1 (when he labeled McCaffrey “day to day”).
After he was a surprise inactive for the 49ers’ season opener, McCaffrey was subsequently placed on injured reserve.
For more clarity on McCaffrey’s Achilles tendinitis injury, the Mayo Clinic defines it as “an overuse injury of the Achilles tendon, the band of tissue that connects calf muscles at the back of the lower leg to your heel bone.”
The clinic also says the injury “most commonly occurs in runners who have suddenly increased the intensity or duration of their runs.”
Mayo indicates most cases of Achilles tendinitis can be treated with at-home care under a doctor’s supervision. Still, more severe cases “can lead to tendon tears (ruptures) that may require surgical repair.”
When Will McCaffrey Return From Injury?
The 49ers designated McCaffrey to return from injured reserve, and he practiced on Monday in the latest sign that he is close to making his season debut.
Christian McCaffrey has returned to practice 🙌 pic.twitter.com/2S8jN2eAG7
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) November 4, 2024
The 49ers are coming off their Week 9 bye, and McCaffrey is on track to play in Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The 49ers are 4-4 and amid a crowded NFC West race. The Niners need McCaffrey back, especially with WR1 Brandon Aiyuk (ACL) out for the season.
How Has McCaffrey’s Absence Impacted the 49ers?
Despite being without McCaffrey and RB2 Elijah Mitchell all season, San Francisco still ranks fourth in both rushing yards per game (159) and yards per rush (5.1).
Jordan Mason’s 685 yards are the fourth-most in the NFL behind only the Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Henry (1,052), Philadelphia Eagles’ Saquon Barkley (925), and Green Bay Packers’ Josh Jacobs (762) even though he has exited two games early due to injuries. He’s averaging 5.1 yards per attempt.
Also, rookie Isaac Guerendo has played well when called upon, turning 37 carries into 227 yards (6.1 yards per attempt) and one touchdown.
Mason was an undrafted free agent, while Guerendo was a fourth-round pick.
It’s not uncommon for unheralded backs to shine in a Shanahan-led system. Six different running backs rushed for at least 1,000 yards under Kyle’s father, Mike Shanahan.
Terrell Davis (fourth round), Olandis Gary (fourth round), Alfred Morris (sixth round), and Mike Anderson (sixth round) all had great seasons under the head coach, with Davis becoming a Hall of Famer and once rushing for 2,008 yards in a single year.
"[Kyle Shanahan] has taken Mike's system and just put that thing on a different level, extracted all the greatness from it, and added his tweaks and twists. And all the coaches who spawned from that. It shows you why we were really great and it leads back to Mike Shanahan."… pic.twitter.com/PkmxaGZpUV
— GoJo and Golic (@GoJoandGolic) October 4, 2024
While the Niners’ rushing attack hasn’t dropped off significantly in McCaffrey’s absence, there’s no question that the offense would be scarier with CMC in the backfield.
Perhaps the biggest area where San Francisco misses McCaffrey is his impact in the passing attack, as Mason (10 receptions for 86 yards) and Guerendo (four receptions for 22 yards) can’t replicate the former’s production through the air. With Aiyuk out for the season, the 49ers can’t wait to get McCaffrey back as a weapon in the passing game.
Fantasy Outlook for McCaffrey and the 49ers RBs
Is it time? Will the industry-wide nightmare of not having McCaffrey in our lives finally end on Sunday? All signs point that way, and I’m operating under that assumption until I have reason not to.
Fantasy football managers have been waiting patiently for McCaffrey to return all season, and he’ll obviously be in your lineup against the Buccaneers if he’s active.
If you want to be conservative with CMC in his season debut, go ahead and drop him down in your weekly rankings. Maybe all the way down to RB5. It’s difficult to do much more than that.
McCaffrey is a unique talent in an offense built around his versatility. If you’ve waited nine weeks to have your first-round pick active, I can’t imagine a world in which you’re waiting to lock him into your lineup.
We can agree that Mason (three RB1 finishes, 5.1 yards per catch, and 7.2 yards per target) has been great, right? Consider this: Mason’s expected PPR fantasy points per game this season is only 66.8% of what McCaffrey posted a season ago.
Mason has been about as good as fantasy managers could have possibly hoped for (17-game pace: 1,639 yards from scrimmage). But for a team with Super Bowl aspirations and some early-season struggles to overcome as we begin the second half of the season, he’s set to transition to an accent piece of furniture as opposed to the big-screen TV in which the entire room is positioned around.
Mason has been a must-start as long as McCaffrey is sidelined, but he’ll be tough to trust with CMC back in the lineup. Could there be a ramp-up period this week that allows Mason to hold onto a Flex-worthy role? It’s certainly possible, but your backfield depth would have to be awfully limited to bet against McCaffrey in this capacity.
When McCaffrey is healthy, he’s been the every-down back for the 49ers. Last season, he played a monstrous 80.2% of San Francisco’s offensive snaps (excluding the Week 18 game he sat out with playoff positioning clinched).
It’s possible the 49ers will still give Mason some snaps and carries to ensure McCaffrey stays healthy, but that won’t be enough work for the former to remain fantasy-relevant.
Still, Mason will be one of the best handcuffs in the league now that we know he can handle a McCaffrey-esque workload should the reigning Offensive Player of the Year get hurt again.