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How the 49ers Will Use Christian McCaffrey if He Plays vs. Tampa Bay

Considering they can't know for certain if he'll be available, they probably won't design the game plan to feature him heavily.

Grant Cohn

Nov 19, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) carries the ball against Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Carlton Davis III (24) during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
Nov 19, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) carries the ball against Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Carlton Davis III (24) during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
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Technically, we still don't know if Christian McCaffrey will play Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

All we know is that he practiced on Monday and Wednesday. Assuming he makes it through the full week of practice with no setbacks or soreness in his Achilles' tendons -- something he couldn't do before Week 1 or in training camp -- the 49ers probably will activate him off Injured Reserve on Saturday in time for Sunday's game.

But if McCaffrey does indeed play against the Buccaneers, how will the 49ers use him?

Considering they can't know for certain if he'll be available, they probably won't design the game plan to feature him heavily. The game plan is finished right now and the 49ers will spend the rest of the week practicing it. If they have to scrap a day or two before the game because McCaffrey can't go, they're in trouble.

That's why I expect the 49ers to be cautious with McCaffrey if plays. They'll let him get his feet wet. They'll let him run routes. They'll even throw him a couple passes. But they shouldn't hand him the ball lots of times. Not in his first game back. Not when both Jordan Mason and Isaac Guerendo are healthy.

McCaffrey's mere presence on the field changes what defenses call. He forces defensive coordinators to load the box with eight defenders which creates one-on-one matchups for the wide receivers. He also makes defensive coordinators call lots of zone coverage which makes life easier for all the 49ers receivers.

Which means McCaffrey can be a decoy and still have a significant impact on the outcome of the game.

No reason to overuse him.

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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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