There is little doubt that Christian McCaffrey is one of the most dangerous and versatile players in the NFL. The 49ers running back won the Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year Award last season as he carried the ball 272 times for 1,459 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns. He also proved to be a dynamic receiver with 67 receptions for 564 yards and seven touchdowns.
The 28-year-old McCaffrey is clearly one of the best players in the NFL, and he will figure prominently in the 49ers game plan for the 2024 season. However, head coach Kyle Shanahan wants to make sure that McCaffrey stays healthy and productive throughout the season, and he may attempt to reduce the superstar's workload in the upcoming campaign.
Shanahan explained that the 49ers have enough depth at the position to take some of the carries and receptions away from McCaffrey. The head coach does not want to overexpose the productive McCaffrey to an additional threat of injury if others can handle the responsibilities without reducing the Niners' offensive production.
Kyle Shanahan would like to protect Christian McCaffrey in 2024
Convincing Christian McCaffrey that taking a few plays off on a game-by-game basis may be the biggest issue that Shanahan faces because McCaffrey enjoys all aspects of the game and does not like to come out of the field.
“We have guys that can run the ball,” Shanahan said, per Matt Barrows and David Lombardi of The Athletic. “We have to protect Christian from himself. He doesn’t like to ever come out no matter what the situation is and I do think that’s something we could protect him with more. When you are such a threat in the pass game, it’s a little bit different.
“But if he’s just taking the wear and tear with 20 carries and stuff every game — and he’s definitely good enough to do that and he has proved he can stay healthy — but you’d like to take some of that off of him and give it to other guys also.”
McCaffrey is starting his eighth season in the NFL and his second full season with the 49ers. He spent the first five years of his career with the Carolina Panthers and he was traded to the 49ers in the 2022 season. He is a three-time Pro Bowl performer and a two-time All-Pro.
McCaffrey has rushed for 1,000 yards or more five times in his career. He was a dominant player for the Panthers in the first part of his career and he had his best season 2019 when he carried the ball 287 times for 1,387 yards and 15 touchdowns and he also had 116 receptions for 1,005 yards and 4 touchdowns.
In addition to McCaffrey, the 49ers list Elijah Mitchell, Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. as the team's primary backup running backs. Mitchell had 75 carries last season, while the Niners selected Guerendo with their fourth-round pick in this year's draft.
While Christian McCaffrey is likely to take issue with Shanahan's plan to rest him more in the upcoming season, don't expect any confrontation in the upcoming days. McCaffrey married his long-time girl friend Olivia Culpo, a former Miss World, Saturday.
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