The San Francisco 49ers didn’t make much by way of additions this offseason.
They will get one key add to their offense, though, simply from good health (knock on wood).
Christian McCaffrey is back on board and ready to rock for the upcoming season.
New 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak spoke with reporters on Thursday. Here’s what he had to say about CMC:
“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 give him the ball as much as we can. And yeah, his health is really important. He’s one of our central players on offense. 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, putting more guys in the box to stop the run, like it has an effect on the opponents.
“Christian’s doing great. He looks awesome, and we’re pumped up that he’s out there working every day. So I look forward to getting him back out there full time.”
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That’s wonderful for 49ers fans to hear. McCaffrey had just 202 rushing yards and no TDs in 2024.
McCaffrey is entering his ninth NFL season and would much rather play than not.
“You’ve got to be cognizant of how much they’re out there,” Kubiak said. “Christian’s a really hard guy to take off the field, for a lot of reasons. One, because he’s a great player, but two, because he does not want to come out. Sometimes there’s a battle.
“You’ve just got to balance those things out. You’ve got to be aware of it. Sometimes, you’ve got to pull him off the field every now and then. But that’s part of what makes him a great player, is he’s so competitive and he wants to be out there. But it’s on us as coaches to try to do the best we can to balance it out.”
Maybe CMC will be limited in some games just to preserve him. But clearly we’re looking at the point where the 49ers need to use McCaffrey for all he’s worth before it gets too late.
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