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CBS Sports: 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey Set to Storm Back from Injury

This seems awfully optimistic.
Grant Cohn|
November 17, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) runs against Seattle Seahawks cornerback Coby Bryant (8) during the second quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
November 17, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) runs against Seattle Seahawks cornerback Coby Bryant (8) during the second quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

This seems awfully optimistic.

Christian McCaffrey, who averaged just 4.0 yards per carry last season while dealing with bilateral Achilles tendonitis and a torn PCL, is set to storm back from injury" this year according to CBS Sports.

"'CMC' was one of two things with the Carolina Panthers to open his career: All-Pro-caliber or injured," writes CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin. The trend finally returned in San Francisco in 2024, when the multipurpose star followed up an Offensive Player of the Year campaign by missing 13 games with Achilles tendinitis.

"Approaching 30, he's hardly a safe bet to sustain a heavy workload, and his top backup, Jordan Mason, is no longer in town for relief. Still, the rest of the 49ers getting healthy should help ease him back into a starring role for Kyle Shanahan."

Benjamin actually lays out the argument for why McCaffrey should NOT be expected to storm back from injury. He's old for a running back. He's had injury issues in the past. Achilles tendonitis doesn't just go away forever. It's an overuse injury that can pop back up at any time.

And McCaffrey didn't rush back from his Achilles tendonitis last season. He was questionable for Week 1 -- the 49ers thought he might be able to play in that game. Instead, he waited until Week 10 to make his debut. And he still averaged just 4.0 yards per carry. And he lasted only four games before he injured something else.

For comparison, Dre Greenlaw actually ruptured his Achilles tendon, then he rushed back onto the field before he was ready and still played better than McCaffrey who took his time coming back.

Adjust your McCaffrey expectations accordingly.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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