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Christian McCaffrey is the 49ers' Player to Watch at OTAs

The 49ers would be wise not to work McCaffrey too hard during the offseason.
Grant Cohn|
Jul 27, 2023; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) runs on the field during training camp at the SAP Performance Facility. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images
Jul 27, 2023; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) runs on the field during training camp at the SAP Performance Facility. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers' OTA practice in front of the media is this Thursday and the No. 1 player to watch is Christian McCaffrey.

Last year, McCaffrey skipped OTAs because he wanted a contract extension which the 49ers quickly gave him. Unfortunately for them, he had bilateral Achilles tendonitis which ultimately kept him sidelined until Week 10.

When McCaffrey finally returned, he was not explosive. The fastest speed he hit during a game was 17.4 miles per hour. He forced only 5 missed tackles. And then he tore his PCL and missed the final fave games.

Now, he says he's fully healthy with zero restrictions. On Thursday, we'll see if that's truly the case.

That's why CBS Sports says McCaffrey is the player to watch at 49ers OTAs.

"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 the second most 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 OTAs and how he looks will be something to watch because San Francisco's 2025 hopes may rest on his banged up body."

The 49ers would be wise not to work McCaffrey too hard during the offseason considering Achilles tendonitis is an overuse injury that could pop back up at any time. A big reason he got injured again so quickly last season is that the 49ers used him as if he never missed any time in the first place.

Mistake.

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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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