Christian McCaffrey Is the 49ers’ Ultimate Finisher - And He’s Not Slowing Down
SANTA CLARA - Christian McCaffrey is on the doorstep of NFL history, chasing what would be just his second season with both 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards - something only two other players have ever done. But for the 49ers, the stats only tell part of the story.
What really matters? McCaffrey scores touchdowns.
A lot of them.
And he does it with a quiet relentlessness that’s become the heartbeat of San Francisco’s offense.
“I just take one game at a time,” McCaffrey said as the 49ers (9-4) kicked off preparations for their Week 15 matchup against the Titans. “You never know what can happen in a game. For me it’s just about seeing it, hitting it and seeing what happens.”
What usually happens? Six points.
In the 49ers’ 26-8 win over the Browns before the bye, McCaffrey opened the scoring with a 1-yard plunge - his 13th touchdown of the season. That brought his total to 52 touchdowns in just 50 games with San Francisco, including playoffs.
That’s more than a touchdown per game - a pace that not even Jerry Rice, the NFL’s all-time touchdown leader, matched in his first 50 games with the franchise. Rice had 41 scores through that same stretch.
Let that sink in: McCaffrey is outpacing Jerry Rice - in touchdowns - through their first 50 games in red and gold.
Of course, McCaffrey didn’t arrive as a rookie. When the 49ers traded for him in 2021, he already had 51 touchdowns in 65 games with the Panthers (including playoffs).
Add in 31 touchdowns from his Stanford days and a jaw-dropping 141 in high school, and you’re looking at a guy who’s found the end zone 275 times before his 30th birthday. That doesn’t even count his youth football days in Colorado, where he was already turning heads.
So when McCaffrey missed most of last season with Achilles tendinitis and a PCL strain, it’s no surprise the 49ers struggled in the red zone, finishing 6-11. Without their do-it-all back, the offense lost its closer.
“He’s always had a nose for the end zone,” said veteran left tackle Trent Williams. “And he’s enabled offensive coordinators to do a larger array of things, put him in different spots, to help get high touchdown numbers.”
That versatility isn’t just helpful - it’s a nightmare for defenses. Take the Browns game: Cleveland keyed so hard on McCaffrey during a zone-read play that Brock Purdy simply kept the ball and waltzed into the end zone untouched. That’s the kind of gravitational pull McCaffrey has - even when he doesn’t score, he’s still creating points.
Before McCaffrey, Kyle Shanahan leaned heavily on a committee approach in the backfield, much like his father Mike did in Denver. From 2017 to 2021, the 49ers had five different leading rushers in five seasons - Carlos Hyde, Matt Breida, Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr., and Elijah Mitchell. All capable backs, but none quite like McCaffrey.
That changed on October 23, 2022, when McCaffrey made his first full appearance as a 49er against the Rams - a team that had also been in the running to trade for him. Shanahan wasted no time showing the Rams what they missed out on.
First, McCaffrey threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk. Then he caught a 9-yard touchdown from Jimmy Garoppolo.
Finally, he punched in a 1-yard rushing score to complete the rare touchdown triple crown - passing, receiving, and rushing - in a single game.
Since then, the committee has been shelved. McCaffrey’s been too valuable, too dynamic, too productive to come off the field.
He’s not the biggest back at 5-foot-11, 210 pounds, but he’s got a dozen 1-yard touchdowns with the 49ers. That’s not just power - that’s vision, patience, and elite short-area quickness.
“He is really good at finding the open hole,” Shanahan said. “He’s got elite vision.
It’s hard to create creases down there, but if you can, he usually finds it. That’s what he does best.”
And he’s doing it at a historic pace. With four games left in the regular season, McCaffrey has 323 touches, 849 rushing yards, and 806 receiving yards. He’s on track for 1,110 yards on the ground and 1,054 through the air - numbers that would make him the only player in league history to notch two 1,000-1,000 seasons.
He’s not talking about it. But his teammates are.
“I mean, that would be huge,” Williams said. “Just more so for Christian, continuing to write the history books as a transcendental talent.”
Here’s a breakdown of McCaffrey’s 52 touchdowns with the 49ers through 50 games (including playoffs):
- Rushing touchdowns: 34
- Receiving touchdowns: 18
- Red zone touchdowns: 43
- Longest touchdown run: 65 yards vs.
Pittsburgh (Sept. 10, 2023)
- Longest touchdown reception: 41 yards from Brock Purdy vs. Arizona (Dec.
17, 2023)
Whether he’s catching, running, throwing, or simply drawing defenders away, McCaffrey has become the ultimate weapon in Shanahan’s offense. He’s not just helping the 49ers move the chains - he’s helping them finish drives.
And as the postseason looms, that’s the kind of player every contender needs.