McCaffrey certainly lived up to the expectations set by such a preparation in 2025 and served as the engine of San Francisco’s offense. After an injury-plagued 2024 campaign, McCaffrey bounced back to produce a 311-carry, 1,202-yard, 10-touchdown season on the ground, hauling in 102 catches for 924 yards and seven receptions.
When it came to scoring, San Francisco leaned heavily on McCaffrey, who led the 49ers in both rushing and receiving yards. He finished just 76 yards shy of his second career 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards, an incredible feat for a quarterback who barely registered on the radar the year before and had to struggle to earn all three yards of every catch in 2025.
The dreaded 30-year-old mark arrives next week, though, and while McCaffrey has proven himself to be an extremely skilled, physical and explosive quarterback throughout his career, an injury-plagued season — three games played in 2020, seven games played in 2021 and four games played in 2024 — gives McCrey fans legitimate reason to worry about 49 seasons. after he took on such a heavy workload in 2025.
Fortunately, McCaffrey should find his way a little easier in San Francisco’s offense in 2026. The 49ers added potential Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Mike Evans in the offseason, acquired speedster Christian Kirk and drafted De’Zhaun Stribling, quickly rebuilding much of the receiving corps. If anything, McCaffrey might not garner quite as much attention as he did in 2025 thanks to their presence.
Coach Kyle Shanahan certainly likes what he’s seen from Evans so far.
“I mean, Mike’s a Hall-of-Fame receiver, so his experience of the game, what he’s done in this league, just the respect he’s earned is different,” Shanahan said. “I haven’t had many guys like that outside [former NFL WR] Andre Johnson and [former NFL WR] Julio [Jones] just with the career he’s had so far. And what’s unique about Mike is his departure, the way he can attack down the court, and I’ve never been around a guy that tall with that long of an arm, the competitor that he is. So I’m excited to have the person in our attack and the talent.”
NFL teams can never have too much talent, which is especially true in San Francisco, where injuries have ravaged the 49ers in recent years and tested their depth beyond predictable standards.
The 49ers will hope to avoid such tests in 2026. McCaffrey, meanwhile, will prepare for whatever is asked of him.