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Running Back is One of the 49ers' Top 5 Needs this Offseason

At this stage of Christian McCaffrey's career, his body probably can't handle 20 carries per game anymore.
Grant Cohn|
Nov 10, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) warms up before a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Nov 10, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) warms up before a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

Sure, the 49ers just gutted their defense and need to draft at least four Day 1 starters on that side of the ball, but they also need a running back.

Their starter, Christian McCaffrey, will turn 29 in June. Last year, he suffered bilateral Achilles tendonitis which took months to go away and he did not rush himself back. He was extremely cautious as he should have been. Rupturing his Achilles could end his career.

So he didn't play the first half of the season. He even flew to Germany for a special treatment that hasn't been approved in the United States. When he finally returned to the field, he lasted just 50 carries before he suffered a season-ending PCL tear.

At this stage of McCaffrey's career, his body probably can't handle 20 carries per game anymore. He still could be an effective receiver, but if the 49ers overuse him as a runner, he'll probably get injured.

Which brings us to his backup, Isaac Guerendo. He's very fast and talented, but he's not a workhorse. In six years of college, he carried the ball just 231 times. Last season, he carried the ball 84 times before getting carted off the field with knee and ankle injuries during Week 18.

So you can bet the 49ers will draft another running back in a couple weeks. The question is when?

Realistically, the 49ers could argue that running back is their biggest need on offense because if McCaffrey misses an extended period again, they're screwed. They're a run-first team that isn't built to drop back and pass over and over.

Don't be surprised if the 49ers draft a running back in Round 3 this year. Ohio State's TreVeyon Henderson would be perfect for them.

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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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