A run of three consecutive conference championship appearances and two straight NFC West titles all came crashing down last season for the San Francisco 49ers. Which leads to the question: Has the 49ers’ Super Bowl window closed?
The answer to the question might depend on health.
The 49ers were ravaged by injuries a season ago. A total of 16 players ended the year on injured reserve as the team limped to a 6-11 record and last place finish in the NFC West.
Running back Christian McCaffrey, the 49ers’ best skill position player, was one of the most notable players hurt during San Francisco’s injury plagued season. He missed San Francisco’s first eight games due to calf and Achilles injuries. He returned in November yet sustained a season-ending PCL injury in Week 12.
Injuries aren’t new to McCaffrey. He was limited to only 10 games from 2020-2021 because of injuries when he was on the Carolina Panthers before being traded to San Francisco in 2022.
McCaffrey is one of the best running backs in the NFL when healthy (and popular fantasy football pick). Can the 29-year-old running back evade the injury bug this season?
As the 49ers prepare for training camp, McCaffrey says he’s healthy.
“I feel great. This offseason, I’ve spent a lot of time building back a base (and) starting from scratch. A lot of it was rehab,” McCaffrey said at 49ers’ minicamp. “I wanted to put myself in a position where I didn’t miss a day of OTAs and I could practice and play football again, be healthy and not miss a day. I did that and now it’s kind of kick back up the training again. I feel great.”
The 49ers need McCaffrey to return to his 2023 form where he led league in rushing yards (1,459), touches (339), yards from scrimmage (2,023) and touchdowns from scrimmage (21) on the way to winning the 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year award. San Francisco lost several key players this offseason, a list that includes Dre Greenlaw, Charvarius Ward, Deebo Samuel, Talanoa Hufanga, Javon Hargrave and Leonard Floyd
San Francisco’s roster shakeup puts more of an onus on the team’s star players such as McCaffrey to perform at a high level if the club wants to return to being a playoff contender.
“You guys saw in 2023 how important he is to what we want to be as an offense. He’s an elite player and we’re going to do everything we can to get him the ball, as much as we can. And yeah, his health is really important. He’s one of our central players on offense,” 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said this offseason. “We want to hand him the ball, we want to throw him the ball, how he changes defenses when he’s on the field for how they have to play us in certain coverages, right? Putting more guys in the box to stop the run, it has an effect on the opponents.”
Can the 49ers get vintage McCaffrey in 2025? Head coach Kyle Shanahan is optimistic.
“He is a psycho in a good way and so like he does everything imaginable every single day,” Shanahan said in June. “Last year he couldn’t because he was battling injury all last year. And this year he is healthy, so he is right back to being who he is always been and it’s really fun to watch.”
Is the demise of the 49ers premature? The 49ers have the NFL’s easiest strength of schedule based on their opponents’ winning percentage from 2024. And if McCaffrey and the team’s other core players can stay healthy, it might be too soon to write them off.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.