Brock Purdy keeps hearing the same knock, and it keeps circling back to the pieces around him. For some observers, the 49ers quarterback is still more of a byproduct than the engine, and Christian McCaffrey sits right at the center of that debate.
Colin Cowherd put it plainly when he ranked Purdy and Kyle Shanahan as the NFL’s 10th-best quarterback-head coach tandem: “I think Purdy is largely driven by Shanahan’s play calling and [Christian] McCaffrey’s greatness.”
Cowherd did credit Purdy for how he played after returning from injury last year, but the larger point remains the same. Shanahan gets plenty of the praise, and the case against Purdy often starts there. Until he does it under a different coach or play-caller, some people are going to keep viewing him through that lens.
McCaffrey, though, may be the bigger factor in how outsiders judge San Francisco’s offense. The timing lines up too neatly to ignore: the 49ers were good in 2022, 2023, and 2025, the seasons McCaffrey was healthy. The lone down year since he arrived came in 2024, when he was banged up and appeared in only four games.
That’s why the real test for Purdy may be simple: can he win without McCaffrey?
Nobody around the 49ers wants to find out anytime soon, but the possibility is always there. McCaffrey has dealt with injuries over the course of his career, and he’s already been dealing with “tightness” ahead of this season.
There was similar concern before last year, too. McCaffrey was working through an injury issue before the regular season, then ended up playing all 17 games and putting together a strong season. Still, he’s 30 now, and that makes every health question a little louder.
If McCaffrey were to miss time and Kaelon Black or another back had to step in, the pressure on Purdy would jump fast. He’d lose the safety valve McCaffrey provides, and defenses would have to change how they attack San Francisco.
And if Purdy managed to keep the 49ers winning anyway, that would do more than just stabilize the season. It would take away one of the biggest arguments his critics use against him.
In Other News...
49ers Suddenly Have A Quiet Strength That Could Swing Close Games
Special teams rarely grab the spotlight in August, but the 49ers have spent this offseason making sure the phase is no longer an afterthought. Replacing Thomas Morstead with Corliss Waitman gave the punting job a new look, and the club also locked in Eddy Pieiro with an extension, signaling real confidence in the kicking game as the roster takes shape.
The early returns have been encouraging in preseason play, with Pieiro knocking through multiple field goals and Jacob Cowing flashing game-changing juice on an 83-yard punt return touchdown. The coverage unit has turned in its own strong moments, too, and under Brant Boyer the group has looked more reliable and more disruptive, the kind of quiet edge that can end up mattering most when games tighten in the fourth quarter. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Running Back Battle Just Got More Complicated Behind McCaffrey
Kaelon Black kept making a case for himself in the 49ers preseason work against the Chargers, finishing with 33 yards on eight carries and adding another layer to a backfield that already has plenty of moving parts behind Christian McCaffrey. For a team that always has to sort through the margins at running back, every clean rep matters in August, and Blacks showing gave San Francisco another rookie to evaluate as the roster picture starts to come into focus.
The broader rookie class has been part of that conversation too, with Jaden Dugger and Romello Height drawing notice as the 49ers continue to sort out who can stick. Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris also weighed in on the defensive side of the rookie growth curve, while the latest injury notes were more encouraging overall, with Deommodore Lenoir and DeZhaun Stribling listed day-to-day and CJ West and Dominick Puni back after concussion issues. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Veteran Core Makes This Feel Like A Win-Now Season
The 49ers keep building around the same familiar backbone, and it is a veteran-heavy one. Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Trent Williams, Nick Bosa, Deebo Samuel and Fred Warner are still the names that make this roster feel dangerous, the kind of core that can carry a team deep into the season if it stays healthy and aligned.
But the age on that group also changes the conversation in a hurry. With so many of San Franciscos best players already on the other side of 30, the urgency is obvious, because championship windows do not stay open forever and the 49ers know the margin for error is shrinking. The talent is still there, but the pressure to turn it into a title feels more immediate now than it did even a year ago. [Read more 🡒]