49ers Vow to Reduce Christian McCaffrey's Workload Whether He Wants That Or Not

Christian McCaffrey says he doesn’t buy load management — he wants to be ready to “play every snap” and isn’t worried about the heavy workload.
The 49ers’ coaches disagree and plan to reduce his game-day snaps, giving more opportunities to young backs like Kaelon Black (rookie) and Jordan James.
McCaffrey had a huge 2025 workload (about 450 touches, 1,010 snaps), which raises injury concerns given his history after heavy seasons, and the team hopes a fresher CMC will regain big-play explosiveness.