The San Francisco 49ers have to hope history isn't repeating itself, but all signs seem to indicate it is.
A year ago at this time, All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey was dealing with calf issues that limited his participation in training camp and kept him out of the preseason. Those injuries turned into achilles tendinitis that ultimately derailed the first half of his 2024 campaign and let to him missing all but four games during the regular season.
Now, on the eve of the Niners' 2025 season, McCaffrey is again dealing with a calf injury, and he was listed as a limited participant the Thursday prior to his team's regular-season opener against the Seattle Seahawks.
Not good.
The Christian McCaffrey calf issue is obviously a major concern for a player his age even without last year’s Achilles issue. You have to worry about continued recurrence. Plus, coming of a PCL injury to end the season, not good to have another soft tissue injury.
— Dr. Nirav Pandya, M.D. (@DrNiravPandya) September 5, 2025
Good thing San Francisco pulled off last month's trade with the Washington Commanders for running back Brian Robinson Jr.
Granted, Robinson isn't McCaffrey. But head coach Kyle Shanahan fully indicated Robinson would be the No. 2 behind CMC on the depth chart, and it's relatively comforting knowing the 49ers have a bell cow-type of tailback who can shoulder a big load if McCaffrey is forced to miss time again.
The Niners learned this the hard way a year ago with now-Minnesota Vikings tailback Jordan Mason, who admirably filled in for the 2023 Offensive Player of the Year and was among the league leaders in rushing over the first half of 2024.
Robinson, entering year four, has come close to hitting the 800-yard rush mark in each of his first three seasons in the league, and with 65 career receptions for 587 yards, his pass-catching abilities help make up for the kind of prowess that made McCaffrey a household name.
Fortunately for San Francisco, early reports from NFL Network's Tom Pelissero suggest the 49ers are being overly cautious with McCaffrey's calf, which hopefully suggest there'll be no urgent reliance upon Robinson to shoulder the load as there was with Mason entering Week 1 a year ago.
If that changes, though, the Niners can feel awfully smart in retrospect for making the Robinson trade.
They should anyway.