Christian McCaffrey has slipped among top running backs heading into the 2025 season, according to NFL execs, coaches, and scouts.
The 49ers star is ranked fifth at his position, according to a survey released by ESPN on Monday.
McCaffrey was ranked first in the same ESPN survey heading into 2024, as he was coming off an impressive 2023 season in which he won his first NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award.
“He’s a great player, but he’s always had durability issues, even in college,” an NFL personnel executive told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. “He’s an elite trainer and takes great care of himself. He’s just not a big body and will lose a step eventually.”
The Stanford alum played in only four games last season. He missed the first eight games due to bilateral Achilles tendinitis, and then suffered a PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) sprain against the Buffalo Bills in Week 13.
“He’s still the prototype — and the best player on the field at times,” an NFC scout told Fowler.
The four running backs ahead of CMC include Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson.
The three-time Pro Bowl selection rushed for 1,459 yards while scoring 21 touchdowns in 2023.
If the 29-year-old can get back to prime form, he’ll be right back in the MVP conversation, which would put him back at the top of the ESPN survey next year.
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