This was an unforgettable season for Christian McCaffrey. The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year missed nearly half of the season due to a lingering Achilles tendon injury. Weeks after his debut, the star running back had stood out from the crowd like some of the 49ers’ other standout players.

McCaffrey left Sunday’s tough loss in Buffalo with a knee injury and Kyle Shanahan quickly ruled him out. After the game, Shanahan said McCaffrey had suffered a potentially season-ending PCL illness. An MRI is scheduled for Monday, notes Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com.

This would be a tough blow for the eighth-grader while underscoring the importance of securing guaranteed money. The 49ers approved a two-year contract extension worth $38 million this offseason, with the contract valued at $24 million at signing. The 28-year-old McCaffrey played the leading role in San Francisco’s offense last season. With the former top-10 pick out for most of this season, the 49ers are at risk of falling out of the playoff mix. The reigning NFC champions are now 5-7.

After a dismal 2023, the running back position experienced something of a resurgence — in a macro sense. Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry And Joe Mixon are successful with third contracts after changing teams. McCaffrey beat his competitors and dominated between his trade in October 2022 and Super Bowl LVIII. McCaffrey had overcome his injury problems from the Panthers years in the 2022 and 23 seasons and did not miss a game due to injury during that time. This season marked a regression for the dual-threat dynamo and came with brutal health for the 49ers.

San Francisco did not place McCaffrey on IR at the start of the season, but the Achilles problem prompted such a move before Week 2. McCaffrey had been in the game to play in Week 1, but the 49ers cut him for that game. He then withdrew from the scene and even traveled to Germany to undergo treatments that could potentially speed up his recovery. McCaffrey didn’t debut until Week 10 but immediately returned to a near-full-time role. He recorded 88% of the 49ers’ offensive snaps in Week 10 and then posted 82% and 94% snap rates in the final two 49ers games, respectively.

The 49ers had put together a productive running game amid today’s Western New York snowstorm, and McCaffrey fueled that performance early in the game. He totaled 53 yards on seven carries, although his seventh toe resulted in a loss of yards after a quick fall to the turf. McCaffrey limped to the sideline and the 49ers fell behind 28-3. Both McCaffrey and Fred Warner left the game due to injury, a reminder of how much the 49ers’ season has gone off track.

Shanahan’s team played without Trent Williams And Nick Bosa tonight. None of the All-Pro players are on IR or have been ruled out for Week 14, but the team has also struggled with numerous longer-term issues. San Francisco missed Dre Greenlaw Throughout the season, he suffered a torn Achilles tendon while the veteran linebacker trotted onto the field for possession in the first half of the Super Bowl, sidelining him so far this season. Warner suffered a broken ankle. The 49ers recently lost an extended wideout Brandon Aiyuk and high-priced defense equipment Javon Hargrave for the season and Talanoa Hufanga has joined McCaffrey in battling two serious injuries during the campaign. The All-Pro safety was still early on the road to recovery due to the torn ACL he suffered in November 2023, and he only managed to play in two games before a wrist injury sidelined him.

This season is reminiscent of the team’s previous NFC title defense, as in 2020 Bosa sat out most of the time and then was QB1 Jimmy Garoppolo 10 competitions missing. Both Deebo Samuel And George Kittle I also missed a lot of time this year. The 49ers posted a 6-10 record in 2020, but rebounded by advancing to the next three NFC Championship games. The core of San Francisco’s Super Bowl LIV team is still mostly intact. Bosa, Kittle, Warner, Greenlaw and Samuel are still in the squad. But the group is obviously much older now. This season there is suddenly a risk that several outstanding players will be deprived of their best performances of a year.

McCaffrey was hired to form a core that featured four All-Pros at the skill positions, with Aiyuk earning second-team recognition last season. McCaffrey has burnished his credentials as a top running back after returning to the Bay Area; The Stanford graduate won the rushing title last season (1,459 yards) and, despite a layoff in Week 18, racked up an additional 564 yards through the air. McCaffrey added 160 scrimmage yards in Super Bowl LVIII, a game that marked the most painful game of the 49ers’ Shanahan era of big-game losses.

With McCaffrey’s number of missed games likely increasing to 14 by season’s end, his career total would be 37 in this scenario. San Francisco’s most talented player would have advanced to a contract year in 2025 via his previous extension in Carolina, but the offseason extension locks him in for 2025. There are no guarantees on McCaffrey’s contract beyond next season, but he did well to commit That puts him behind only Barkley among RBs this year, effectively ensuring he’ll be back in the 49ers’ plans in 2025.