The trade for former Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey has excited the Bay Area and sent shockwaves throughout the NFL landscape. As a result, the 3-3 San Francisco 49ers are once again thrust into the conversation of Super Bowl contenders.
It's worth noting that following an All-Pro and Pro Bowl campaign in 2019, McCaffrey missed 23 combined games in 2020 and 2021. So did the running back's health concerns make the 49ers hesitant to finalize the trade?
"I know that's a concern, but I have injury concerns about every single player on our team," Shanahan said on KNBR's Murph & Mac show. "And it happens, and that's really the riskiest part of our sport. If I always thought [like] that with every player, I think I'd be frozen and never be able to make a decision.
"So that is the toughest thing about our deal, and that's why you can never get too high or too low, whatever your team's situation is, whatever you think your team is. That's changing every single day, and you've got to be able to adjust to that.
"That's why it's great to get Christian here, who I know can help us out a ton in the run game. I think he can help us out a ton in the pass game. I think he's going to be great in protections. But I also know we better have some other really good backs, too, because this is football, and this stuff happens. I see the same at tight end, receiver. You don't like to see it that way at quarterback, but you look at our six years here, and it's been that way at quarterback for us every year except for one."
Shanahan and the 49ers could have had McCaffrey since 2017. But, instead, the team drafted defensive lineman Solomon Thomas. The 49ers studied McCaffrey that offseason, though, and the one area where they weren't concerned was the running back's health.
"Injuries are going to happen," Shanahan continued. "That's why we've got to have depth. I know when you look at a player like Christian, medically, coming out of college, we had the highest medical grade on him of any player we ever got since we've been here. He never had injuries. He was the cleanest guy that we could have. And it started that way for two years in the NFL—the first three years, I believe.
"I know these last two years haven't been the same, but watching him this year, he's back to his full health, looks like the same guy as coming out of college, and I know we've got a tough guy, who handles it right, who takes care of his body as good as anyone can. I'd put him on that [defensive end Nick] Bosa-type level. It's just been kind of the way he was raised, the way he's looked at everything. It's 100 percent commitment to being the best he can be at what he does, and he's been doing that since he was probably three years old."
So, where does this leave the 49ers' running back rotation? Jeff Wilson Jr. has been carrying the load since Elijah Mitchell's injury. Mitchell is expected back after the bye week, though.
"I'm not sure yet," Shanahan said. "I'll think about that based off of when that time comes, who is available, what defenses we're playing, and how to really just figure out how to win the game. I know that people get so excited with all this stuff, which we do too. My biggest thing as a coach is not to get caught up and [say], 'Hey, we have to showcase this guy. We have to showcase that guy. We've got to get this guy his targets. We've got to get that guy his targets.'
"When you start thinking that way, you get in trouble, and you don't really focus on what's the best way to win. We've got a lot of good receivers. We've got some good tight ends. We've got some good running backs. When you attack a defense, you try to deploy them the best way you can, and usually, it ends up taking care of itself in the long run, if you play good football. But I'm just glad that there's not many wrong decisions you can make when you get those guys out there on, really, who does get the ball."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.
