LAS VEGAS - Kyle Shanahan says the same thing about his star running back every year. Something about a need to manage his workload. Only to give him the ball 400 times and shrug.
Christian McCaffrey in 2025 set a new single-season high for touches, 450 between the regular season and playoffs, and is now 30 years old. Maybe it is time. The youngsters, Kaelon Black and Jordan James, have given Shanahan some reason this preseason to follow through.
No promises. But, surely, the San Francisco 49ers drafted enough running backs in the McCaffrey era to hit on a couple of serviceable backups.
Black, the talk of training camp, logged a cool 28 yards on seven yards per carry in the preseason finale at the Raiders. It was just more of the same from the explosive third-round draft pick out of Indiana, who is largely running away with the RB2 role after consensus boards considered him a reach in April.
Jordan James, a 2025 fifth-rounder, had been out since before the padded portion of camp because of a collision with Fred Warner that fractured his ribs. Upon his return to practice over the weekend, James found himself behind in what had promised to be an interesting position battle.
#shanahan #jordan #preseason
Christian McCaffrey in 2025 set a new single-season high for touches, 450 between the regular season and playoffs, and is now 30 years old. Maybe it is time. The youngsters, Kaelon Black and Jordan James, have given Shanahan some reason this preseason to follow through.
No promises. But, surely, the San Francisco 49ers drafted enough running backs in the McCaffrey era to hit on a couple of serviceable backups.
Black, the talk of training camp, logged a cool 28 yards on seven yards per carry in the preseason finale at the Raiders. It was just more of the same from the explosive third-round draft pick out of Indiana, who is largely running away with the RB2 role after consensus boards considered him a reach in April.
Jordan James, a 2025 fifth-rounder, had been out since before the padded portion of camp because of a collision with Fred Warner that fractured his ribs. Upon his return to practice over the weekend, James found himself behind in what had promised to be an interesting position battle.
#shanahan #jordan #preseason
2 months ago
