When healthy, Christian McCaffrey is arguably the best running back in the NFL. But injuries have obviously been a big issue for the Stanford alum over the last few years, haven't they?
After failing to miss a single game during his first three seasons with the Carolina Panthers, the eighth overall pick in the 2017 draft dealt with ankle and shoulder ailments and appeared in just three games in 2020, which is also the same year he signed a four-year, $64 million contract, at the time making him the highest-paid running back in NFL history.
In 2021, McCaffrey was limited to just seven games, sitting out of a couple contests with a hamstring injury before yet another ankle injury shut down his season for good.
The following year, in 2022, he finally played a full season, suiting up for six games with Carolina before being traded to the San Francisco 49ers, with whom he played 11 regular-season games and three playoff matchups.
He again remained relatively healthy for the entire 2023 campaign, appearing in the Niners' first 16 games before sitting out the regular-season finale after suffering a mild calf strain in a Week 17 win over the Washington Commanders. San Francisco already had the No. 1 seed in the NFC locked up, so his Week 18 absence didn't matter, and he returned for the playoffs and performed well.
Once again, however, after signing a lucrative two-year, $38 million extension, McCaffrey dealt with calf and Achilles injuries during last year's training camp and ultimately didn't see the field until Week 10. And in only his fourth game back, he sustained a PCL injury to his right knee and missed the rest of the year.
Despite all of these setbacks over the past five years, a stretch during which he's missed 37 of a possible 84 regular-season games, McCaffrey has still tallied 6,387 regular-season rushing yards for his career, good for 87th in NFL history, and has scored 52 touchdowns on the ground, good for a tie for 80th.
He's also added another 4,466 yards and 29 scores as a receiver on 524 receptions, but we're going to focus on his rushing totals for the purposes of this piece.
Now, as far as his time with the 49ers is concerned, McCaffrey has already rushed for 2,407 yards in just 31 regular-season games, scoring 20 touchdowns on the ground, figures that currently rank him 16th and tied for 17th in those two categories, respectively.
If he can stay healthy—and that's obviously a big if—the 29-year-old could vault into the franchise's all-time top 10 in both metrics during the 2025 season, which is wild given the short time he's been in San Francisco.
Christian McCaffrey needs 1,009 yards to move into 10th on the 49ers' all-time rushing yards list
Here's a look at the 49ers' all-time rushing yards list as it stands heading into the 2025 season.
Player | Games | Rushing Yards |
|---|---|---|
Frank Gore | 148 | 11,073 |
Joe Perry | 158 | 8,689 |
Roger Craig | 121 | 7,064 |
Ken Willard | 125 | 5,930 |
Garrison Hearst | 73 | 5,535 |
J.D. Smith | 97 | 4,370 |
Hugh McElhenny | 99 | 4,288 |
Kevan Barlow | 72 | 3,614 |
Steve Young | 150 | 3,581 |
Johnny Strzykalski | 81 | 3,415 |
Wendell Tyler | 48 | 3,112 |
Delvin Williams | 54 | 2,966 |
Wilbur Jackson | 72 | 2,955 |
Ricky Watters | 43 | 2,840 |
Carlos Hyde | 50 | 2,729 |
Christian McCaffrey | 31 | 2,407 |
As you can see, with 1,009 rushing yards in 2025, McCaffrey would move past six players, the last being Johnny Strzykalski, to take over 10th place on the leaderboard. Again, if he stays healthy, that shouldn't be an issue, as he's reached that figure every year in which he's played at least 16 games.
If he can reach 1,208 yards, which is still well short of the career-best 1,459 he produced in 2023, McCaffrey would move into eighth.
McCaffrey needs only seven TDs on the ground to move into the top 10 on the Niners' all-time rushing TDs list
And now, here's a look at the 49ers' all-time rushing touchdowns list.
Player | Games | Rushing Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|
Joe Perry | 158 | 68 |
Frank Gore | 148 | 64 |
Roger Craig | 121 | 50 |
Ken Willard | 125 | 45 |
J.D. Smith | 97 | 37 |
Steve Young | 150 | 37 |
Hugh McElhenny | 99 | 35 |
Frankie Albert | 90 | 27 |
Garrison Hearst | 73 | 26 |
Tom Rathman | 115 | 26 |
Ricky Watters | 43 | 25 |
Kevan Barlow | 72 | 24 |
Y.A. Tittle | 113 | 23 |
John Brodie | 201 | 22 |
Carlos Hyde | 50 | 21 |
Jeff Garcia | 74 | 21 |
Delvin Williams | 54 | 20 |
Joe Montana | 167 | 20 |
Deebo Samuel | 81 | 20 |
Christian McCaffrey | 31 | 20 |
As you see here, the first rushing touchdown McCaffrey scores this season will break him out of the four-way tie for 17th he currently shares with Delvin Williams, Joe Montana, and Deebo Samuel.
And if and when he gets to six, he'll break into the top 10, tying Tom Rathman and Garrison Hearst for ninth. A seventh ties him with Frankie Albert for eighth, and eight, a number he's reached three times during his career, obviously gets him to eighth on his own.
Perhaps we're making too big a deal out of all of this, but the fact that McCaffrey is already within striking distance of the top 10 in these categories is bonkers. One would think that had he not gotten hurt last year, he'd likely already be there in both.