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49ers Star Sends Warning To Rest Of NFL About Christian McCaffrey

Originally posted on The Spun | By Daniel Bates | Last updated Jul 13, 2025 3:44 PM ET

Last season couldn't have gone much worse for Christian McCaffrey and the San Francisco 49ers. But 2025 is a new year and the expected father-to-be is ready to re-establish himself as one of the best players in football.

At least that's what Niners teammate Kyle Juszczyk has seen from the three-time Pro Bowler — who couldn't have had higher praise for Run CMC and his approach to the offseason.

"Christian is arguably the best player in the NFL," Juszczyk told The Athletic this week. "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."

McCaffrey's season started and ended on injured reserve in 2024 — missing eight games due to Achilles tendinitis before being shut down with a PCL injury.

All told the two-time All-Pro finished with 50 carries for 202 yards. A far cry from the 2,023 scrimmage yards and 21 touchdowns he scored on the road to San Francisco's last Super Bowl appearance.

Juszczyk believes that's a height the Niners can reach again this fall with how locked in everybody on the team has been with their training.

"I think we've been extremely hungry this whole offseason," the fullback said. "The fact that everybody was there [in the offseason], and everyone was grinding, there was that little extra motivation to really get this thing going."

The 49ers certainly have a schedule that could lend itself to a return to form. They open the season with four straight games against teams that missed the playoffs last year.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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