What will the San Francisco 49ers get from Christian McCaffrey in his return?

Jason Burke | Nov 10, 2024

Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the first half of Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The San Francisco 49ers have officially activated running back Christian McCaffrey to the 53-man roster after he spent the past eight weeks on the IR with Achilles tendonitis. The plan is for him to play on Sunday in Tampa against the Buccaneers.

The big question will now be what kind of playing time the 49ers tailback will receive in his first game back from injury. Last season the Stanford legend led the league in touches with 339, rushing yards with 1,459, and in yards from scrimmage with 2,023. Those stats, along with a league-leading 21 touchdowns, helped him earn NFL AP Offensive Player of the Year honors. The Niners rode his performance straight into a Super Bowl appearance.

With San Francisco at 4-4 at the moment and coming off their bye week, they will need production from McCaffrey, but they'll also want to keep him healthy for a potential playoff run. There were games last season when CMC was on the field for every offensive snap, and while there is no doubt that he'll be ready to go on Sunday, that kind of usage is presumably off the table.

Jordan Mason, after dealing with a shoulder injury the past three games, is a full go this week as well, which should help limit how much McCaffrey is relied upon in his first game back.

Rookie Isaac Guerendo has played in eight games and received 37 rushing attempts, totaling 227 yards on the ground and another 22 on four catches through the air. While his yards per attempt sits at 6.1, 76 of his rushing yards came on one play. If you divvy out the rest of the yards (151) across the remaining 36 rushes, he's still averaging 4.19 yards/carry. Mason is at 5.1 per carry this season and McCaffrey gained 5.4 per rush last season.

Obviously we don't know how much McCaffrey will touch the ball or how involved he'll be in the offense on Sunday against the Buccaneers. If coach Shanahan had mentioned his plans, that would give Tampa Bay a leg up in their preparation. The answer is likely that they're going to start him off slow in the early going, and let his response to those first few touches, along with the game situation, dictate his usage.

The 49ers are chasing a number of teams to squeak into playoff position, currently sitting as the No. 10 seed in the NFC, though they hold the same record as both the eighth seeded Chicago Bears and ninth seeded Los Angeles Rams, who own the tiebreakers. Both teams are on S.F.'s schedule in the coming weeks, with the Niners at home against Chicago on December 8, followed by a Thursday night matchup with the Rams on December 12.

They'll also get a chance against team grasping the final postseason spot, the Green Bay Packers (6-3), on November 24. Those are three games that really stand out the rest of the way, and having McCaffrey healthy and hitting his stride for that game at Green Bay as San Francisco attempts to start cementing themselves in the playoff picture.