49ers Continue to Assure Christian McCaffrey is Healthy/Elite

Slowly but surely the San Francisco 49ers are placing massive expectations on Christian McCaffrey.

First, it was McCaffrey himself who set the bar high, stating that his health is a non-issue now and that he can still perform at a high level. Then, it was Kyle Shanahan who piggybacked off it.

Sure enough, other 49ers players who were asked during OTAs and minicamp about McCaffrey echoed similar sentiments.

They have all assured that he is healthy and is still the elite player from 2023. Now, it is Kyle Juszczyk who has joined the club of assuring that McCaffrey is healthy and still elite.

"Christian is arguably the best player in the NFL," Juszczyk told Vic Tafur of The Athletic (h/t Nick Shook of NFL.com). "He was the offensive player of the year two years ago. He changes everything, and he looks incredible. He looks so healthy, he looks so explosive."

Maybe the 49ers are trying to manifest it into existence by saying it aloud. McCaffrey is such an integral player to the offense that losing him again would be devastating.

You can't blame them for wanting to believe that he will be fine this year and is poised to be the same player that he was in 2023.

However, everything the 49ers and McCaffrey are saying should be taken with a grain of salt. This is the same schtick they pulled last year when McCaffrey had a "calf strain" initially.

It's just kind of funny how they are all operating as if McCaffrey didn't have not one, but both of his Achilles injured. Not to mention the knee injury that ended his 2024 season.

At this point, words from McCaffrey, his teammates, and coaches don't matter. Until he gets on the field and can pull it off for multiple games, he is a massive question mark.

All the 49ers are doing is setting up the expectation that he will/has to be healthy and elite. If he isn't, they will have set themselves up for a massive letdown given all the assurances.