San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey has built a body of work that is rivaled by few others in the league. Now 30 years old, his age may raise concerns about whether the superstar can maintain his elite production.
Such worries are valid. The running back position has proven to have a more abbreviated shelf life. But it might not be his age that should make the Niners cautious, but something else entirely.
Not a week into training camp, the real problem with CMC has only gotten worse.
Last season, the Stanford man accumulated 413 touches during the regular season. It wasn't the first time he had been asked to carry a significant workload, and his injury history reflects that. Of his nine seasons as a pro, he has been forced out of three of them due to season-ending injuries.
Two of those three seasons followed campaigns in which he touched the ball at least 300 times.
Needless to say, it would be in the 49ers' best interest to begin easing their veteran star of such a heavy burden.
Latest news adds even more responsibility to 49ers' bell cow
Instead of alleviating the star's usage, however, San Francisco might now be forced to add even more to his plate.
News of backup running back Jordan James suffering a rib fracture in camp further shallows an already-slim running back room. Brian Robinson Jr.'s departure in free agency left the 49ers with two unproven commodities behind CMC. Now, rookie Kaelon Black will be tasked with one of the league's most important backup jobs if James is unable to recover in a timely manner.
Black, a third-round pick in this year's draft, was already considered to be a controversial addition. The Indiana product was the 15th-ranked running back in his class, yet he was the third one taken off the board.
Needless to say, the decision did not come without criticism.
Black's development will be an important storyline to monitor throughout camp, as he now stands as the lone man behind one of San Francisco’s most important offensive pieces. If he fails to earn the coaching staff's trust, Kyle Shanahan and Co. might have to pick up right where they left off last year: asking too much of Christian McCaffrey, thus risking overworking him to the point of exhaustion.
Such a strategy worked last year, but the Pro Bowler is not getting any younger, and it is only a matter of time before the added mileage catches up to him.
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