Following an early season trade from the Carolina Panthers, running back Christian McCaffrey played a pivotal role in the San Francisco 49ers’ run to the NFC Championship last season.
After losing McCaffrey’s debut against the Chiefs, San Francisco won the final 10 games of the regular season, with McCaffrey averaging 75 rushing yards, 46 receiving yards, and one touchdown per game during that stretch.
After McCaffrey missed 17 total games in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, it was a step in the right direction to see him healthy and effective.
Heading into the 2023 season, McCaffrey is healthy and fully immersed in the San Francisco system, so it’s fair to assume that he’ll be even better this season than last season, but Kyle Shanahan doesn’t know if that’s necessarily the right word to use.
“I’d like to say he’s going to be a lot better, but I don’t get really how he can be. He did pretty good last year. I just think he’s more comfortable.” Shanahan said Thursday on KNBR’s Tolbert and Copes Show. “I can tell he feels a lot more comfortable, I mean, he studies it, not just from his position; he really studies it from the whole, kind of like a quarterback. So he understands what we’re trying to do on everything. Not just running the ball or not just running his route.” Shanahan added.
It remains to be seen how McCaffrey will fare in his second season with the 49ers.
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