San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is no stranger to adversity. Three of his nine seasons have been cut severely short due to injury, including 2024, in which he played just four games in a forgettable campaign.
His brilliant comeback season in 2025 was acknowledged last Wednesday, when he won the ESPY for Best Comeback Athlete of the Year after handling 413 touches and accumulating 2,126 total yards. Now, fans are surely hoping that this kind of recognition will be the last of its kind.
McCafrrey is no stranger to the comeback narrative. On top of a stunted 2024 season, he failed to play more than seven games in both 2020 and 2021. 2022, however, was a different story. CMC handled 329 touches and accumulated 1,880 all-purpose yards in between games with both Carolina and San Francisco.
Now, if he has yet another comeback campaign in the near future, it will likely be because another injury stopped him in his tracks.
CMC's comeback seasons come at a brutal cost
In years following an injury, CMC has been nothing short of unstoppable in his career. In 2025, he showed the 49ers just how dominant he could be. However, it cost them an entire 2024 season to do so.
Two years ago, McCaffrey's second full season with the Niners essentially ended before it even began. Weeks before the first game, reports began popping up about a battle with Achilles tendonitis McCaffrey had been battling. The news was sudden to say the least. Many thought he would miss a game or two. He ended up missing the team's first eight. By the time he returned, San Francisco was 4-4 with their season hanging in the balance.
CMC only played four games before suffering a PCL injury against the Bills in Week 12, which subsequently ended his season. The 49ers ended up going just 5-8 in games with their star running back that season.
Now, another CMC injury would prove to be not only detrimental to the season, but arguably to the franchise as a whole. The entire roster has been constructed to win now. Stars like McCaffrey, George Kittle, and Mike Evans are all in their 30s. Veterans on the defensive side of the ball are in the waning years of their primes. If the 49ers don't capitalize on the championship window soon, they may not see another opportunity for some time.
There simply isn't time to run through the entire CMC experience again. It's now or never, and another comeback campaign simply isn't an option anymore. Much of the team's season rests on the shoulders of McCaffrey, and many people are relying on him to stay on the field for a full 17 games.
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