One 49ers star wasn’t impacted at all by QB injury issues last season

Christian McCaffrey’s efficiency as a receiver out of the backfield showed up twice on Pro Football Focus’ list of the NFL’s most productive quarterback-running back duos in 2025 — once with Mac Jones, and once with Brock Purdy.

Among all qualifying running backs with at least 18 targets, McCaffrey is the only back in the top 10 to appear with two different quarterbacks. That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, though, given most of the other names on the list played the full season. Even more, McCaffrey was one of the top receiving running backs in the NFL this past season with 102 receptions for 924 yards and seven scores.

The Jones-McCaffrey connection ranked third overall at 0.46 EPA per play, while Purdy-McCaffrey checked in at sixth with 0.38 EPA per play.

With Jones, McCaffrey caught 54 of 60 targets for 527 yards and three touchdowns, with 404 of those yards coming after the catch. That volume reflects the stretch when Jones was San Francisco’s starter while Purdy worked back from injury, and it shows McCaffrey remained just as dangerous as a receiving weapon regardless of who was throwing him the ball and highlighted how important Jones was in executing Kyle Shanahan’s offense.

The Purdy connection, while slightly behind in per-play efficiency, came with more scoring punch. Purdy targeted McCaffrey 69 times, completing 58 for 453 yards and five touchdowns.

Having a back who produces at an elite clip regardless of who’s under center underscores just how central McCaffrey has become to San Francisco’s passing offense. McCaffrey’s floor as a pass-catcher gives the 49ers‘ offense a level of stability few teams can match at the position, even when his running game lags: He averaged just 3.9 rushing yards per attempt in 2025, his worst mark in a full season since his rookie year in 2017.

The hope for McCaffrey and the 49ers in 2026 is that Purdy won’t need to rely on his running back as much. The 49ers added Mike Evans, Christian Kirk and De’Zhaun Stribling this offseason to play alongside McCaffery, receiver Ricky Pearsall and tight ends George Kittle and Jake Tonges.

But, at the very least, the 49ers know they’ll get a lot of throwing to their running back than other teams do.

This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: One 49ers star wasn’t impacted at all by QB injury issues last season