The 2024 campaign was a lost season for the San Francisco 49ers. Coming off a narrow, heartbreaking loss in Super Bowl LVIII, they were hoping to finally make good on their prolonged “Quest for Six,” only to suffer a prolonged string of key injuries.
As a result of those injuries, they went 6-11 and missed the playoffs.
The one 49ers player who was perhaps hardest hit by the ravenous injury bug was running back Christian McCaffrey. He suffered a calf strain and Achilles injury during training camp that forced him to miss the first eight games of the schedule, and after returning for four games, he injured his PCL and had to be shut down for the remainder of the year.
He is apparently healthy now as the start of the 2025 regular season approaches, and there is genuine reason to hope that he will be back to his prolific self once Week 1 arrives.
Read more: 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan Offers Major Christian McCaffrey Injury Update
Quarterback Brock Purdy said that McCaffrey is ready to hit the ground running again and is in a good place mentally.
“Mentally he’s just, he’s on one,” Purdy said on Thursday, per NBC Sports Bay Area. “Like he’s ready to get after it with the season, and obviously from beginning to end, like play a whole season and go hard. And that’s who he is.”
McCaffrey was recently ranked No. 73 on NFL Network’s list of the top 100 players in the league. He fell hard on the list over the past year after being ranked No. 3 a year ago.
Purdy said that the 29-year-old looks physically spry.
“I mean obviously physically he looks great, getting in and out of cuts, running hard,” Purdy said. “Back to the McCaffrey that we all know.”
In 2023, McCaffrey had an outstanding year. He posted 1,459 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns, as well as 67 catches for 564 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns. He led the NFL in rushing yards and total yards from scrimmage, and he was tied with Miami Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert, a former member of the Niners, for the lead in total touchdowns.
That production resulted in him winning the Offensive Player of the Year award and finishing third in the MVP balloting.
Read more: 49ers Suffer Major Injury Blow to Key Offensive Starter Ahead of Week 1
McCaffrey has unfortunately been injury-prone over the years. But when he has been healthy, he has been arguably the game’s best all-around tailback. In 2019, he became just the third player in NFL history to attain 1,000 receiving and rushing yards in the same season.
He’s San Francisco’s biggest threat on offense, and his versatility makes the team’s offense unpredictable and hard to handle for opponents.
A return to form by McCaffrey could allow the Niners to surprise some people this year and become very competitive once again.
For more on the 49ers and general NFL news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
Read the full article here
