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Christian McCaffrey's Lack of Speed is the Top Storyline of 49ers OTAs

Expecting McCaffrey to turn back the clock seems unrealistic.
Grant Cohn|
Dec 1, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) tries to avoid Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin (3) on a run in the first quarter at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
Dec 1, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) tries to avoid Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin (3) on a run in the first quarter at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

Christian McCaffrey hasn't quite looked like himself since he fumbled in the Super Bowl.

That was supposed to be his coronation as a future Hall of Famer, his opportunity to deliver Kyle Shanahan a Lombardi Trophy the way Terrell Davis delivered his father two in Denver.

Instead, McCaffrey fumbled in the red zone during the opening drive of the game. He went on to average just 3.6 yards per carry against the Chiefs. Then last season, when he finally returned from bilateral Achilles tendonitis, he averaged a mere 4.0 yards per carry and never ran faster than 17.4 miles per hour. Then, he tore his PCL after just four games.

This past week at OTAs, McCaffrey still didn't seem that have the fifth gear that made him so special when he was younger. He used to reach his top speed effortlessly -- now, he has to strain and drive his knees harder.

That's why McCaffrey is the No. 1 storyline of 49ers OTAs and mandatory minicamp according to CBS Sports.

"In 2023, three-time Pro Bowl running back McCaffrey was the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year, and the 49ers reached overtime of the Super Bowl before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs," writes CBS Sports' Garrett Podell. "In 2024, McCaffrey played four games while dealing with bilateral Achilles tendonitis and a PCL injury in his knee, and the 49ers went 6-11. Those 11 losses were tied for second by a team in the season after a Super Bowl loss ever.

"How much the soon-to-be 29-year-old running back participates in mandatory minicamp and how he looks will be something to watch because San Francisco's 2025 hopes may rest on his banged up body."

It's never ideal to rely so heavily on a 29-year-old running back coming off serious injuries who's built like a slot receiver. For what it's worth, Marshall Faulk was similar to Christian McCaffrey. Faulk won three Offensive Player of the Year Awards from the ages of 26 to 28 and then fell off drastically at 29.

Expecting McCaffrey to turn back the clock seems unrealistic.

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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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