The San Francisco 49ers should have the most talented running back room in the NFL entering the 2025 season. That group, while very good, may also be their downfall.
Let’s assume for the sake of this exercise that the 49ers are able to keep restricted free agent Jordan Mason, who led San Francisco with 789 rushing yards last season. That puts him in the mix with Christian McCaffrey, the 2023 Offensive Player of the Year, and Isaac Guerendo, who acquitted himself well as a No. 1 running back when called upon as a rookie last year.
There’s one big question mark that hangs over each of those three players though: Health.
McCaffrey, Mason and Guerendo all dealt with injuries throughout last season. Mason played in 12 games and dealt with a shoulder injury before going down with a high ankle sprain late in the year.
Guerendo was hurt in training camp and missed all but one preseason game. He was mostly healthy during the regular season, playing in 16 contests, but he did deal with hamstring and foot injuries shortly after being called upon to start. Then in the season finale he was carted off with an MCL injury.
McCaffrey started the year with Achilles tendinitis that wound up forcing him out of virtually all of training camp before landing him on IR before Week 2 of the regular season. He played in only four games before suffering a season-ending knee injury in Buffalo in Week 13.
Ideally their RB group, spearheaded by McCaffrey, will be deep and versatile enough that they don’t have to lean on any one player. Dividing up the workload may be enough to keep the entire group fresh and healthy for a year.
Until we see that play out, it’s going to be the huge question mark lingering at RB. If they’re mostly healthy, they could carry the 49ers back to the Super Bowl. If they’re bombarded with injuries again, we could see another year where San Francisco’s offense sputters.