SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- After another physical, grind-it-out win against the Los Angeles Rams last week, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey stood at a lectern with a big grin on his face.
For a fifth straight week, the Niners' running game had struggled to get going and again failed to post a rushing touchdown. McCaffrey's smile was rooted in one eye-opening statistic: The 2025 Niners are the second team in the past 90 years to not score a rushing touchdown in the opening five weeks and still start 4-1 or better.
"The win is the most important thing, and we don't care how we have it," McCaffrey said. "I think everybody and their mother wants the run game to get going a little bit more -- myself included -- but we've just got to keep chipping away and keep working at it and get guys back and just keep pushing and staying with it."
Through the first five weeks, McCaffrey is 23rd in the NFL in rushing yards per game (56.4), 40th in yards per carry (3.1), 36th in yards before contact per rush (1.52) and 33rd in yards after contact per rush (1.58). Only 5.5% of his 91 rushes have gone for 10-plus yards, which ranks 113th in the league.
Questions about the lack of production on the ground have grown louder by the week, with blame being pointed in every direction. While there are multiple reasons for the Niners' ground game struggles, the simplest explanation might be the best one: On a team that has been missing most of its best and most accomplished skill position players, McCaffrey is the obvious target for opposing defensive coordinators.
The Niners, without tight end George Kittle (hamstring), receivers Brandon Aiyuk (knee), Jauan Jennings (ribs, ankle, shoulder) and Ricky Pearsall (knee) for all or parts of the season, are more McCaffrey-centric than ever.
Through the first five weeks, McCaffrey is getting 47.6% of San Francisco's offensive touches, a rate that would be the highest in the league for any player since 2022 and is nearly 5% higher than his previous high in 2023 (42.9%).
But while defenses have focused their game plans on slowing McCaffrey on the ground and dared the likes of tight ends Jake Tonges and Luke Farrell or receivers Kendrick Bourne, Demarcus Robinson and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to beat them, McCaffrey has still found a way to be one of the league's most consistent offensive threats.
McCaffrey, whom coach Kyle Shanahan calls the best receiver at running back he's ever seen, ranks first among all players in yards from scrimmage (669) and touches (130) and has hit triple digits in scrimmage yards in each of the first five games.
Put simply: McCaffrey is getting the heaviest workload in the NFL and still helping the Niners win despite opposing defenses doing everything they can to take him away. And he's doing it after Achilles and knee injuries limited him to four games in 2024.
"He's one of the toughest, grittiest guys I've ever been around -- how he approaches every day, how physical he is," Shanahan said. "Christian has been unbelievable. He's been running into some really tough looks but he doesn't shy away from anything."
McCaffrey is quick to point out that it's not unusual to have stretches where rushing production doesn't come easy. McCaffrey even began his 49ers career with even less success than he's had so far this season.
After arriving midway through 2022, McCaffrey averaged 53.8 rushing yards per game and 4.0 yards per carry in his first five full games with the Niners. He offset that with 51.6 receiving yards per game.
With defensive game plans centered on him in 2025, McCaffrey is seventh among all players in receiving yards per game (77.4) and yards after catch (278), and third in receptions (39). At his current pace, McCaffrey would finish with 1,316 receiving yards and shatter the NFL record for receiving yards in a season by a running back (Del Shofner's 1,097 in 1958). He also has three receiving touchdowns through five games (tied for most by a running back this season).
"He's the man," quarterback Mac Jones said. "He's definitely good at his job and he's always out there on every play no matter what. He's dealing with stuff too, and he's just in the right spots and makes plays."
While McCaffrey has continued to be the focal point of the Niners' offense during their fast start, the Niners are hoping that reinforcements are on the way to help not only bolster the run game but diversify the offense.
Perhaps no player on the roster is better suited to do both of those things than Kittle. Since Kittle arrived as a rookie in 2017, the Niners have averaged 4.8 yards per carry with Kittle on the field. With Kittle not on the field, that number drops to 4 yards per attempt.
It's a testament to Kittle's dominance as a run blocker -- he is second in the NFL in run block wins since 2017 -- and as a pass catcher. Whenever Kittle is on the field, the Niners can align the same personnel in different ways, forcing opposing defenses to honor his versatility.
That's especially true for the linebackers and safeties who now are free to attack the line of scrimmage and McCaffrey. One second quarter play against Arizona offered some insight into how defenses are focused on McCaffrey beyond simply just bringing additional defenders closer to the line of scrimmage.
On a first-and-10 toss play to the right, the Cardinals took the unusual step of sending both inside linebackers to chase McCaffrey through the "C" gap on the right side. They tackled him for a 5-yard loss.
Although Kittle isn't expected back until Week 7 at the earliest, he's nearing a return. Getting Aiyuk, Jennings and Pearsall back should also help open some things up and guard Ben Bartch is eligible to return from injured reserve after Week 6.
Getting healthier should also help lighten McCaffrey's workload as he's currently on pace for 442 touches, which would be tied for the eighth most in league history.
For his part, McCaffrey hasn't shied away from is the drumbeat of questions about the running game and whether he, at 29 and coming off injury, has lost a step or two. McCaffrey has repeatedly said that the Niners are "close" to a running game breakthrough.
One more block here or forced missed tackle there could lead to the type of long gain that would instantly bolster the meager yards per carry average, McCaffrey says.
Against the Rams last week, McCaffrey forced 12 missed tackles (seven on rushes, five on receptions), his most forced missed tackles since joining the Niners. Still, the Rams forced McCaffrey to gain all of his rushing yards after contact as he was held to negative-3 yards before contact in that game.
McCaffrey has also acknowledged that he can be better along with the rest of his offensive teammates. In the meantime, those teammates are finding inspiration in how he finds a way to influence winning with the deck stacked so heavily against him.
"There were so many doubts coming into this season about how this guy can hold up after what he's been through," fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. "I think the guy touches the ball 30, 40 times a game and he's still standing and he's still doing his thing."