No matter how one chooses to look at it, the San Francisco 49ers' once-vaunted rushing attack has been a shell of its former self over the first four weeks of 2025.
Sure, it's fair to argue whether All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey is losing a step after missing all but four games last year to lower-body injuries. And, at 29 years old, he's certainly approaching the twilight of his career, which frequently hits hard and fast for players at his position.
But the Niners' run-game woes extend far beyond CMC's lack of production. Through the air, at least, McCaffrey has been a factor. However, his numbers on the ground have been nothing shy of abysmal, especially by his standards:
- Week 1: 22 carries, 69 yards, 3.1 YPC
- Week 2: 13 carries, 55 yards, 4.2 YPC
- Week 3: 17 carries, 52 yards, 3.1 YPC
- Week 4: 17 carries, 49 yards, 2.9 YPC
Oh, and San Francisco is the lone team remaining over that span yet to record a touchdown on the ground. Incredible.
Solely blaming McCaffrey is shortsighted. There are plenty of other reasons why head coach Kyle Shanahan's ground attack hasn't gotten, well... off the ground yet.
Unfortunately, it doesn't appear as if that will change anytime soon.
Christian McCaffrey is only part of 49ers' lack of ground attack
On the whole, San Francisco is averaging a mere 3.3 yards per rush this season, second worst in the league through four weeks. While CMC has gotten the bulk of touches, it's safe to say the problems extend beyond his own fortitude.
Case in point, and despite what the metrics over at Pro Football Focus say, the 49ers offensive line has been underwhelming, at best, and this even extends to All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams, who at 37 years old, is beginning to show his advanced age thus far through 2025.
Even if one disagrees with the O-line assessment, that doesn't change the fact the Niners are frequently seeing stacked boxes to effectively contain McCaffrey and the run game.
Shanahan, too, agrees with that part, as he declared after San Francisco's Week 4 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars:
"We're getting extremely heavy two-shell defenses, and I would've thought we would've done better today because you get heavy two-shell defenses, you can't get a big explosive run, usually it comes down to third down. That's what we struggled at the week before, but I thought we did real well on third down today which should have kept us out there and kept us going."
Opposing defenses have frequently pressed down toward the box in an attempt to take away CMC's prowess, forcing Shanahan to rely more on his passing game and a depleted cast of receiving targets. Remember, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is still on the mend from last year's ACL and MCL tears, while tight end George Kittle is on injured reserve with a hamstring issue.
Tack on the hard reality of receivers Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings being banged up at various points already this year, and it's safe to say opponents don't particularly respect the 49ers' ability to move the ball well, aerially.
If those teams did, the Niners would have significantly more chances to get things going on the ground.
Unfortunately, it doesn't appear as if this ugly facet will change anytime soon. Aiyuk might not be back until after the season's halfway point, and Kittle can't return until Week 6 at the earliest, and who knows if either star will be close to 100 percent. The O-line has done nothing to suggest it can be a road-grading unit, while the lack of peripheral talent means defenses have little issue with stacking the box if they want to.
All this points to the problem being a compounded one with no single fix in sight.