Why Christian McCaffrey is Grateful for 49ers' Prolonged Offseason

Last offseason, Christian McCaffrey couldn't make it through a week of practices without injuring his Achilles.

This offseason, he practiced every day during OTAs and minicamp and suffered zero setbacks.

"I feel great," McCaffrey said on Wednesday. "This offseason, I spent a lot of time building back a base, starting from scratch. So a lot of it was rehab. Wanted to put myself in a position where I didn't miss a day of OTAs and I could practice and play football again, and I did that. Now we can kick back up the training again. But I feel great."

Considering the 49ers missed the playoffs, has the prolonged offseason helped him recover?

"Last year didn't go the way I wanted," McCaffrey said. "Having this time off has allowed me to start from scratch and have the time where I can build a base again, come into OTAs, play football and now get back into it. Mentally, physically, emotionally, it has been much needed and I'm happy we had it."

TRANSLATION: McCaffrey wasn't ready to play football last year. Now, he's not trying to get himself in peak physical condition just yet -- he merely is trying to stay healthy, something he couldn't do last year. Even after he missed training camp and the first nine weeks of the season, he tore his PCL after just four games.

Now he has to prove to himself and the league that his body can still hold up to the punishment he'll take as an NFL running back. And he has to prove he can regain the speed and quickness that made him special. And in OTAs and minicamp, he didn't look special. But as he admitted, he hasn't really started training yet.

Now, he has 40 days between minicamp and training camp to make himself as fast and explosive as possible. Because a slow McCaffrey isn't an effective running back. He's not Frank Gore who played into his mid-30s even though he was relatively slow. That's because he was powerful. McCaffrey is not.

We'll see how gracefully he ages.