There are two good things: Christian McCaffrey will be available in Week 1 of 2026, and the 49ers have a nice rookie to try out in Kaelon Black. Brian Robinson Jr., the running back behind McCaffrey last year, was a significant upgrade, and Black might be even better.
Behind those two, well, whoever doesn’t get cut. Probably Jordan James, maybe Sincere McCormick.
Black has been impressive in the preseason. So much you could overreact that he might be an heir apparent to McCaffrey—because McCaffrey isn’t going to play forever. That said, he has a lot of football left in him, but maybe, just once, the 49ers have an option that isn’t 80 percent of McCaffrey’s snaps.
If anything, Black should quickly give Kyle Shanahan confidence that pulling McCaffrey for a play or two isn’t a hindrance. Something he said he finally was able to do last year when I asked this same question:
“[When] Christian goes out,” Shanahan said during his segment on KNBR’s Dirty Work, “Whether it’s a run play or pass play, it’s tough. Because you know he’s such a good runner and such a good receiver. But now, when you have a really, really good back behind him, and we take Christian out and things like that, you’re not so upset on all these plays because you know you’ve got a guy coming in there who you shouldn’t miss a beat on.”
Of course, McCaffrey played nearly 83 percent of the offensive snaps during the 2025 season. So apparently those plays off came few and far between.
Black is a rookie; Robinson wasn’t. So the first order of business is Black getting Shanahan’s trust and holding onto it. That means holding onto the ball when he gets it.
Unlike last year, snaps for a third running back might not be as necessary—if they are, something has gone horribly wrong. I remain convinced McCaffrey should get 65 percent of the snaps. Give 30 percent to Black, provided all that optimism he’s shown in the preseason doesn’t go “poof” in Weeks 1 and 2, and the remaining five to Jordan James. I’m basically saying Black should get a larger role so McCaffrey can rest, and it’s not like the 49ers offense is down a player when he takes the field. They might not miss a beat.
That’s obviously asking a lot since Shanahan tends to run McCaffrey way more than many armchair GMs think he should. More likely than not, McCaffrey will be going 90 percent of the time this year simply because he’s CMC and he’s that good. That said, if we’re being logical about it, what is your pitch count between what most likely will be the 49ers’ running back room?
