49ers training camp preview: Who can spell do-it-all McCaffrey?

Christian McCaffrey enters 49ers training camp looking to defend his NFL rushing title, just as Joe "The Jet" Perry did in 1954.

SANTA CLARA – Christian McCaffrey is coming off the 49ers’ first NFL rushing title since 1954. That is when Joe “The Jet” Perry repeated as a back-to-back champ in rushing yards. Will we see the same from CMC?

As McCaffrey enters only his second training camp with the 49ers, he is the superstar workhorse of a potentially altering running back corps. Here is how that unit looks with camp opening July 23:

WHO’S HERE

Christian McCaffrey, Elijah Mitchell, Jordan Mason, Isaac Guerendo, Patrick Taylor Jr., Cody Schrader

THE CHAMP

McCaffrey racked up the fourth-most yards in a 49ers season (1,459 yards) and second-most touchdowns (21) before sitting out the regular-season finale with a calf issue. He insists he has moved on from grieving over his first-series fumble in the Super Bowl; he lost three of four fumbles all season, so ball security must improve.

Staying away from the voluntary offseason program was a bit of a surprise since he attended last year’s. But he showed up for mandatory minicamp with a two-year contract extension. Training camp will mark his first practices since the Super Bowl. He should report in tip-top shape – and as a just-married man who is also the cover boy for this year’s edition of Madden 25 video game.

BACKUP BATTLE

If Elijah Mitchell is beyond the knee injuries that have hindered his recent seasons, then he has the inside track on remaining McCaffrey’s top backup. Mitchell is entering the final year of his rookie contract ($1.1 million salary), as is Mason ($985,000). Mitchell averaged a career-low 3.7 yards per carry last season but he scored touchdowns in three of the final five games. With 43 and 40 carries each of his seasons, Mason touts a 5.6-yard average and special-teams credibility. Guerendo’s speed will offer a great change-of-pace option but he’s not ready for the No. 2 role.

THE ROOKIES

Guerendo’s only start in six collegiate seasons came in his bowl-game finale, and with just 231 carries at Wisconsin (five seasons) and Louisville (last year), he’ll need more reps to get comfortable finding rushing lanes, although returning kickoffs under the new rule can help there. Don’t paint the undrafted Schrader as Mr. Irrelevant among this unit, not when he has beaten the odds and churned his 5-foot-9 frame for Missouri’s single-season record and the SEC’s most yards. Comparisons: Guerendo rivals Raheem Mostert’s speed, and Schrader’s short-man hustle resembles Maurice Jones-Drew’s.

CAMP EXPECTATIONS

Let McCaffrey get in shape — on the side as much as possible. Put the onus on Mitchell and Mason to show how they’ve improved, including as receivers out of the backfield.

Then see if Guerendo, Schrader and even Taylor could surprise. The 49ers will welcome a logjam of talented rushers, and perhaps someone is deemed expendable in a trade.

HISTORY LESSON

Checking back 70 years ago to Perry’s NFL-rushing-title repeat. He ran for 1,049 yards in 12 games and was joined in the backfield that year by John Henry Johnson, who ran for the NFL’s second-most yards (681). They formed the Million Dollar Backfield with Hugh McElhenney (515 yards, eighth-most in the NFL) and quarterback Y.A. Tittle.

McCaffrey’s 1,459 yards (in 16 games) were the most of his seven-year career, surpassing his 1,387-yard total in 2019. He ran for 225 yards in three games in an injury-plagued 2020 encore.