San Francisco 49ers elite running back Christian McCaffrey continued his dominating 2023 season, leading the league in rushing yards, touches, scrimmage yards and total touchdowns. 1,459 yards rushing With 272 carries and 14 touchdowns 339 touches for 2,023 yards from scrimmage and 21 total touchdowns. For his efforts, he was named to his third Pro Bowl, his second All-Pro, and also won the Offensive Player of the Year award.
McCaffrey played 81% of the offensive snaps, leading all running backs in snaps, and given his age, injury history and recent contract extension he signed in early June, it would be wise to reduce his workload going forward.
Their head coach agrees.
The San Francisco 49ers want to ease the burden on their elite running back.
“We have guys that can run the ball,” Shanahan said, via The Athletic’s David Lombardi. “We have to protect Christian from himself. He never likes to go outside in any situation. I think we can protect him more… [I]”If he’s just wearing himself out with 20 carries every game, and he’s certainly proven he can do it and stay healthy, you want to take some of that burden off of him and give it to other guys.”
The 49ers have three candidates who could see their role expanded.
Candidate #1
The first candidate is Elijah Mitchell. Mitchell is in his fourth season, but he hasn’t been the same player since his stellar rookie performance. He’s battled injuries and missed 18 of the 34 regular season games over the past two seasons.
His role has also shrunk over the past few seasons, dropping from 64% of the snaps as a rookie to 24% in his second year and 23% in his third.
Candidate 2
The second candidate is Jordan Mason. Mason is in his third year and is a reliable back but has been underutilized, playing just 8% of the snaps in 2022 and 9% in 2023.
Candidate 3
The third candidate is Isaac Guerend, a fourth-round pick by the 49ers who spent last season with the Louisville Cardinals and whose athleticism helped him rise in the draft heading into his rookie season.
His speed and athleticism could earn him playing time in 2024.
Will the San Francisco 49ers ease the load on Christian McCaffrey and who will be the RB2?
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