49ers RB Christian McCaffrey is NFL's Biggest Bounce-Back Candidate

It's hard to know what to expect from Christian McCaffrey this year, considering he missed 13 games last season and recently turned 29.

Jun 11, 2025; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey speaks to the media following a team OTA at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

It's hard to know what to expect from Christian McCaffrey this year, considering he missed 13 games last season and recently turned 29.

He says he's healthy, and the 49ers say he is too, but that's what they all said last year. If McCaffrey still isn't quite himself yet, we would be the last to know.

And yet, he participated in every OTA and minicamp practice and he didn't appear to suffer any setbacks. So far, so good.

That's why Bleacher Report says McCaffrey is the biggest bounce-back candidate in the NFL this year.

"When healthy, McCaffrey is arguably the best fantasy running back to roster, but he comes with significant risk because of his recent injury history," writes Bleacher Report's Moe Moton.

"McCaffrey has missed 10 or more games in three of the last five seasons. Moreover, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan talked about protecting the star running back from himself following an injury-riddled campaign.

"Managers should expect a lighter workload for McCaffrey compared to recent years, but he's still one of the league's best pass-catching running backs.

"In the five seasons that McCaffrey hasn't missed more than one outing, he caught at least 67 passes and finished within the top 10 in scoring among running backs. Even with fewer carries, he's a tier 1 fantasy tailback."

If McCaffrey stays healthy this year, he's a good bet to catch at least 60 passes, maybe as many as 70. He's still one of the best receiving backs in the league,, even at his age.

But it will be interesting to see how effective a runner he will be this year. Last year, he was not particularly effective running the ball. He seemed slower, less quick and less explosive. We'll see if that part of his game bounces back.