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How the 49ers Offense Changes when Christian McCaffrey is Out

Grant Cohn

Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk (44) talks with running back Christian McCaffrey (23) on the sideline during the second quarter against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk (44) talks with running back Christian McCaffrey (23) on the sideline during the second quarter against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images / David Gonzales-Imagn Images
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Christian McCaffrey is a great player, but the 49ers can run the ball effectively without him.

That's because they have Bobby Turner, arguably the greatest running backs coach of all time. He has been transforming no-name running backs into Pro Bowlers consistently since the mid-1990s, and his latest creation is former undrafted rookie Jordan Mason, who rushed for 147 yards and 1 touchdown in his first career start last week. Thank you, Bobby.

But McCaffrey's absence still has a huge impact on the offense as a whole. And that's because teams are terrified of him as a receiver. Most teams don't have a linebacker who can cover him man to man, so they have to doule cover him or play zone.

And the 49ers use McCaffrey in so many ways, teams spend all week preparing to stop him. The 49ers drown opponents in McCaffrey preparation. They need a plan for every route he runs. Which means they can't spend nearly as much time preparing for the 49ers' other weapons -- Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk.

So when teams don't have to prepare for McCaffrey, suddenly they can spend all week preparing for players who typically are complementary players. I'm talking Aiyuk, who had just 28 receiving yards in the 49ers' season opener.

Now Aiyuk, Samuel and Kittle will have to work harder to get open. Brock Purdy's job will become more difficult. And Kyle Shanahan will have to use all of his creativity to make up for McCaffrey's absence.

Who will step up?

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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