The 49ers’ season opener in Melbourne offered a clear answer to a question that has hovered over their ground game for years: what happens when Christian McCaffrey no longer has to carry everything?
For once, San Francisco did not lean almost entirely on its star back. Rookie Kaelon Black got 14 carries to McCaffrey’s 10 in the demolition of the Los Angeles Rams, and the split was no accident. Kyle Shanahan said after the game that the balance was part of the plan.
“I thought they both ran really hard and really well,” Shanahan said.
“I’ll see on the plane exactly how good it was, but it felt like it out there. That was the goal for us coming into this, trying to balance it out more, whether it was with Kaelon or getting Deebo some carries.”
That approach paid off in a big way. The 49ers piled up 174 rushing yards, with Brock Purdy adding his usual slippery scrambling to the mix, and the offense looked far more efficient than it did a season ago. San Francisco finished with a 5.9 yards-per-carry average, a 0.19 EPA per carry mark and a 56.7% success rate on the ground.
Black was central to all of it. He turned his 14 carries into 65 yards, a 4.6-yard average, and repeatedly showed burst through the hole on zone runs. It was the kind of showing that helps explain why Shanahan spent a third-round pick on a player many projected to go much later in the draft.
McCaffrey noticed. After the game, he said of Black: “He did incredible.
Oh, he’s an awesome back, man. I said this earlier, but he’s a force and he’s someone who’s going to help our team a whole lot.
It was really cool to see him go out there and just do what he does.”
The workload distribution also seemed to help McCaffrey, who was dealing with cramps but still managed 68 yards on 10 carries. His 6.8 yards per rush was his best since the final game of his injury-shortened 2024 season, when he averaged 7.6 yards per carry against the Buffalo Bills before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Both backs came out with positive EPA per rush figures, with Black at 0.02 and McCaffrey at 0.27. And while the line deserves plenty of credit for opening things up as the game wore on, the bigger takeaway was obvious: the 49ers finally had a run game with some real balance.
That has not been their norm. McCaffrey had 311 rushing attempts last season, the highest total of his career, while Brian Robinson Jr. got just 92. San Francisco has spent years trying to build depth at running back without getting much return, and the offense has often felt like a one-man operation when McCaffrey was healthy.
This time was different. Black earned Shanahan’s trust, McCaffrey got needed relief, and the 49ers got their most efficient performance from their starter in over 20 months.
For a 30-year-old running back, that matters. One game does not settle anything, but San Francisco may have found the kind of partner McCaffrey needs to keep the burden from becoming too heavy.
In Other News...
Brock Purdy Hit Could Bring NFL Fallout After 49ers Opener
Brock Purdys season-opening performance in Melbourne was memorable for more than just the box score, because one of the biggest moments came when the 49ers quarterback took a hit from Rams defensive tackle Tyler Davis that drew a roughing-the-passer flag. Purdy finished the game 25 of 34 for 205 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, but the contact he absorbed is the kind of play that tends to linger after the final whistle once the league reviews it.
The NFLs guidelines leave room for fines on penalties like that, and there is already speculation that the collision may have crossed into helmet-to-helmet territory, which could bring added discipline. For San Francisco, the immediate concern is the health of its quarterback and the protection he gets going forward, while the larger issue is whether the league decides the hit in Melbourne was simply a penalty on the field or something more costly when the office in New York takes a closer look. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Hit On Brock Purdy Could Bring NFL Punishment
Brock Purdy still delivered a productive outing in Melbourne, but one of the biggest moments in the 49ers game came on a hit from Rams defensive tackle Tyler Davis that drew a roughing-the-passer flag and raised the possibility of a helmet-to-helmet call. The play stood out not just because of the contact itself, but because it landed on a San Francisco quarterback who kept the offense moving anyway, finishing 25 of 34 for 205 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
For the NFL, the question now is whether the play turns into more than a penalty on the field. League discipline can follow this kind of hit if officials and review determine it crossed the line, though it remains to be seen whether fines will actually come down. For the 49ers, the larger concern is the same one every team has in moments like this: protecting Purdy while keeping him upright enough to do what he did in Melbourne. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Bosa's 49ers Return Took A Strange Turn After The Rams Win
Nick Bosas return in the 49ers season opener against the Rams was one of the biggest on-field positives of the night. Coming back from a torn ACL, he made his presence felt with four tackles, two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit, a reminder of how much San Francisco missed him when he was out. For a player whose impact is usually measured in pressure and disruption, simply getting through that first game healthy mattered as much as the stat line.
The strange part came afterward, when a social media post began circulating with a quote falsely attributed to Bosa about honoring Charlie Kirk, a statement he never made. It was the latest example of how quickly fake quotes can spread around NFL players, following similar fabrications that have previously targeted George Kittle and C.J. Stroud. For the 49ers, it turned a straightforward comeback story into an unnecessary off-field distraction. [Read more 🡒]