Christian McCaffrey ‘healthy’ but 49ers expect to pick running back in NFL draft

Running back Christian McCaffrey finally looked healthy and explosive in a late-season 49ers game against the Buffalo Bills.Then, he sustained a season-ending knee injury midway through the Week 13 game.More than four months later, the 49ers sound optimistic about the chances of McCaffrey returning to a significant offensive role for the 2025 NFL season."Christian is healthy," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said last week at the NFL Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. "He's doing great."McCaffrey was voted the 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year after he produced 2,023 yards and 21 touchdowns from scrimmage as a rusher and receiver.Last summer, McCaffrey was sidelined early in training camp with bilateral Achilles tendinitis. He made his season debut on Nov. 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but experienced little success in his first three games back.In his fourth game, against the Bills, McCaffrey looked sharp, piling up 58 yards on his first six carries. But he was tripped up at the end of an 18-yard run and landed hard on his right knee. He sustained a season-ending injury to the posterior cruciate ligament, which did not require surgery.The knee injury is not expected to...