The San Francisco 49ers knew they had something special on their hands last season. It wasn't translating into enough wins, though. At least, not early on. The team only won only three of its first seven games.
Just before that seventh game, the 49ers got aggressive. They added yet another playmaker to their roster—someone who could take head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense to another level.
San Francisco acquired Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers before the trade deadline. It was bittersweet for McCaffrey, who figured on playing his entire career with the Panthers. Still, the possibilities were exciting.
"I think you just go down the roster, and you look at all the guys—I think that's the thing I'm most excited about, just getting in the locker room, getting to meet the guys," McCaffrey said in his first conversation with Bay Area reporters after the move. "But how could you not want to play here as an offensive weapon?"
The Niners surrendered second-, third-, and fourth-round draft picks in 2023, plus a fifth-rounder in 2024 for the running back. It was a costly move. However, it was a move that paid off. McCaffrey made an immediate impact. In his first start with his new team, the running back showed off his versatility, rushing for a touchdown, catching a touchdown, and even throwing a touchdown against the division-rival Los Angeles Rams in a 31-14 rout.
San Francisco went on to win its next 11 games, too, reaching the NFC Championship Game for the third time in four years.
The 49ers had seemingly accomplished what they set out to do, elevate the offense and reach the team's potential, even after several quarterback injuries.
McCaffrey finished his season with an impressive 1,880 all-purpose yards and 13 total touchdowns. One thousand two hundred and ten of those yards and 10 touchdowns came after his plane landed in the Bay Area.
What will McCaffrey do for an encore performance, after a full offseason under his belt?
"I can tell he feels a lot more comfortable," Shanahan said Thursday on KNBR's "Tolbert & Copes" show. "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. He does get the big picture, which sometimes is good for guys. Sometimes it's, 'Why are you even trying to cloud your mind with all that? Just focus on your job.'
"Christian is the opposite. He's a guy who can soak everything in and just allow it to add to how he adjusts throughout games and does things. 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."
McCaffrey appreciates having the extra time to learn the nuances and inner workings of Shanahan's offense. It's not something he was able to do last season, going quickly from one playbook to another. About 48 hours after arriving in Santa Clara with his new teammates, the running back was suited up and playing in a game.
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"OTAs were great, just to really understand the concepts and really, not just learn the running back position, but the whole offense," McCaffrey said during training camp, "and understand timing with what the quarterback sees and what Kyle sees, and getting timing right with the O-line, and [FB Kyle Juszczyk], and the tight ends. So coming into camp, you're not playing catch up. So it's been great to be able to kind of not just learn the offense, but master it."
McCaffrey strives for greatness, sometimes to a fault. The running back doesn't like to make mistakes, not even in practice.
"He's such a perfectionist that every time he misses something, he's coming right up to you," Shanahan shared. "He dropped two passes in OTAs, and before I can even get home that night, I have texts on my phone saying, 'That was the worst practice I've ever had in my life. That'll never happen again.' And it's just like, 'Chill, dude. It was just two drops. It happens sometimes.'
"But he [doesn't] want to hear that. If I talk to him that way, he gets annoyed with me. He's like, 'No, that's not acceptable.' And so he's just a man in that way. He's so aggressive in everything he does. And that's why he's not just a Pro Bowler, but he's one of those special players in this league."
The 49ers have two remaining preseason games. Shanahan plans to play his starters at least a bit on Saturday against the Denver Broncos. How much McCaffrey will play, if at all, remains uncertain. That's not by choice for the star running back, though.
"I wish I could get him in bubble wrap and wait until Week 1 because he's ready to go," Shanahan admitted. "We just got to keep this going, keep him working. We gave him the day off today, but he's getting better in every facet."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.
