SANTA CLARA – Opening with a 4-4 record is not the 49ers’ ideal path to a second straight NFC title. Not having Christian McCaffrey makes that .500 start understandable, without excusing a couple of division losses and early-season growing pains.
Now the 49ers’ season could turn for the better.
When they return from this weekend’s bye and resume practicing Monday, McCaffrey is expected to participate for the first time since Sept. 12, adding an amazing allure to still the NFL’s fourth-ranked rushing attack.
“I pray that it goes that way because he’s done really well, he hasn’t had any (setbacks),” general manager John Lynch said Tuesday on KNBR 680-AM.
McCaffrey certainly could reprise his 2022 role as the 49ers’ magic elixir. Or his Achilles tendinitis could flare up, either in his personal workouts this week or in the coming days, weeks, and games.
“Of course, the hope is that everything just goes back to normal and it’s perfect. That’s what we’re all striving for,” coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday. “But you’ve got to play that out smartly and you’ve got to evaluate that each day.”
Things don’t go “perfect” in the NFL. Here is an outlook on the Niners’ nine running back options before their next game, Nov. 10 at Tampa Bay:
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey flexes his muscles for “Madden NFL 25.” (Electronic Arts)
CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY
His void has arguably been the NFL’s biggest injury impact over the first half of this season. Reminder: He was last season’s Offensive Player of the Year and third in MVP voting.
“He’s a special game-changing player for us,” Lynch added on KNBR. “Now just opening his window doesn’t mean he has to play. You have three weeks then when we can activate him. We’ll play this by ear.”
The next three games: at Tampa Bay, vs. Seattle, at Green Bay (followed by a Dec. 1 visit to Buffalo).
“We’ll listen to Christian, we’ll listen to the experts and hopefully very soon he’s back playing with us on the field,” Lynch said. “Then we’ve got to be judicious with how much we use him, and that’s our thing to do because he’s so darn good.”
McCaffrey has scored 39 touchdowns in 32 starts for the 49ers, with at least one touchdown in 27 starts and in each of his six playoff games. (George Kittle has a team-high six touchdowns this season.)
San Francisco 49ers’ Jordan Mason (24) runs against the Dallas Cowboys in the second quarter at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
JORDAN MASON
When McCaffrey went on injured reserve in Week 2, Lynch said “It’s nice to see we can function without him. We can function at a really high level.” That’s because Mason opened with a 147-yard, one-touchdown starting debut in the season-opening rout of the New York Jets.
Mason remains among the NFL’s leading rushers (No. 3 behind Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley) despite a left shoulder injury that forced him out of the Oct. 10 win at Seattle. He left Sunday’s win over Dallas upon aggravating that shoulder, but not to the extent he’s ticketed for injured reserve, as far as we know.
If the 49ers are “judicious” in McCaffrey’s use, Mason certainly could maintain an ample workload unless the 49ers want to keep his shoulder out of harm’s way.
San Francisco 49ers’ Isaac Guerendo (31) runs against Dallas Cowboys’ Eric Kendricks (50) in the second quarter at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
ISAAC GUERENDO
Sunday’s career-high 17 touches grew his confidence and showcased the 4.33-second 40-yard dash speed that made him a fourth-round pick.
Prior to Sunday’s 14-carry, 85-yard outburst against Dallas, he had just a 2-yard run against Kansas City, which followed a 10-carry, 99-yard total in Seattle upon relieving Mason.
“One big thing for me is understanding the speed of the game, being able to play faster,” Guerendo said. “You’re talking about getting off the ball on the snap. If I’m slow on that, I’m a step behind the play. So just making sure I have that urgency, it allows me to hit those.”
His failure to block a blitzing defender put Brock Purdy at alarming risk in the fourth quarter, so learning from that is a must. Purdy is otherwise happy for Guerendo’s progress: ”I get it, man, being a rookie coming in with some guys on the team and some big names in the huddle and everything, you can sort of be awestruck in a sense. But he’s coming in, he doesn’t care. He is grabbing the ball and running hard, so I appreciate that about him.”
San Francisco 49ers’ Patrick Taylor Jr. (32) runs against the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth quarter at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
PATRICK TAYLOR JR.
The 49ers deployed Taylor’s 6-foot-2, 217-pound frame in the closer role their past two wins, when he received all of his 21 offensive snaps (seven carries, 25 yards). He has no fumbles in 87 career touches tracing to his past three seasons in Green Bay.
San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback Brock Purdy (13) spikes the ball after scoring a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys in the third quarter at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group
BROCK PURDY
Purdy went into this past season looking to improve his mobility, and he has already run 42 times for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Last season’s rushing totals: 39 carries, 144 yards, two scores.
Of those 42 runs this season, 22 have gone for first down, and 13 came in short-yardage situations (see: The Purdy Plunge).
Shanahan referred to Purdy’s running ability as “another tool” when his play calls go askew. “Brock’s got the quickness to get away from people. He’s got a kind of feel on when to hit it,” Shanahan said after Sunday’s win. “He was awesome today with his scrambling and he’s been awesome all year with it.”
San Francisco 49ers’ Deebo Samuel Sr. (1) is tripped up by Dallas Cowboys’ Eric Kendricks (50) in the third quarter at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
DEEBO SAMUEL
Eight carries (23 yards) in the opener foreshadowed the need for Deebo Samuel’s dual-threat ability while McCaffrey was sidelined. However, he has totaled 15 carries since then for just 43 yards (2.9 yards per carry, none longer than 8 yards). For Samuel to make a 2021-like impact as a rusher, the 49ers need to get the ball to him in motion in the backfield on jet sweeps or the like.
KYLE JUSZCZYK
With one carry in each of the past three games, Juszczyk remains an afterthought as a ballcarrier – and a Pro Bowl fullback as a lead blocker.
San Francisco 49ers’ Ricky Pearsall (14) leaves the field after their 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
RICKY PEARSALL
An average of 39 yards per carry is quite impressive from the 49ers’ first-round draft pick. OK, so he’s only had one carry, but Pearsall showed his best burst yet in a 49ers uniform, racing from the 49ers’ 35-yard line to the Cowboys’ 26 to set up a 49ers’ field goal between Dallas’ pair of fourth-quarter touchdown catches by CeeDee Lamb.
“The run that he had, being able to set up my block to be able to then go downfield, is fantastic,” Kittle said.
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JACOB COWING
The 49ers have yet to spring their other rookie wide receiver on opponents as a rusher. Cowing did play 12 offensive snaps each of the past two games, after just five beforehand while focusing on his No. 1 job as a punt returner.
He had a 19-yard run in his only preseason carry (against New Orleans), and 12 carries his final three collegiate seasons, so there isn’t much experience there.
