The 49ers’ head coach admitted that he would like to give their superstar more of a rest. In 2022, the San Francisco 49ers attack
was altered with the arrival of running back Christian McCaffrey. Last season, McCaffrey was the Offensive Player of the Year and ended third in MVP voting.McCaffrey is a dynamic danger as a rusher and receiver, forcing the opposition to adjust whenever he is on the field.
However, head coach Kyle Shanahan wants to reduce the team’s reliance on the former Stanford standout, who played 81% of the offensive snaps last season.
“We have guys that can run the ball,” Shanahan told reporters this week. “We need to protect Christian from himself.
He dislikes coming out, regardless of the situation. And I believe that is something we could use to better safeguard him.” On paper, the 49ers should have enough running back depth to successfully replace McCaffrey.
Elijah Mitchell, who carried for 963 yards as a rookie and has an average of 4.7 yards per carry across his career, is presently the team’s best backup.
Even if Mitchell, who is frequently injured, is sidelined, Jordan Mason, who has averaged 5.6 yards per run over his two-year career, and quick rookie fourth-round choice Isaac Guerendo remain in position to help.
Having said that, it’s much easier for Shanahan to talk about reducing McCraffey’s workload than to put it into action. Mitchell and Mason, after all, were on the Niners’ roster last season and appeared in the bulk of their games.
The key reason for this is McCaffrey’s exceptional playmaking abilities as both a route runner and receiver. “When you are such a threat in the pass game, it’s a little bit different,” Shanahan told ESPN.
“But if he’s just taking the wear and tear with 20 carries and stuff every game — and he’s definitely good enough to do that, and he has proved he can stay healthy — but you’d like to take some of that off of him and give it to other guys also.”