49ers’ Week 1 destruction of Rams features revelation that will save Christian McCaffrey

Maybe people are jumping on the San Francisco 49ers bandwagon a little early. And Christian McCaffrey didn’t have a great 2026 debut. However, the 49ers’ Week 1 destruction of the Rams featured a revelation that could save McCaffrey.

The question is whether the 49ers have a running back they can trust other than McCaffrey, according to The Athletic.

“The 49ers said they were determined to give Christian McCaffrey more breaks this season,” Matt Barrows wrote. “It turns out they weren’t lying. McCaffrey’s understudy, third-round rookie Kaelon Black, entered the game on the 49ers’ fifth offensive snap, then was in the offensive huddle to start San Francisco’s second offensive series. Black, hitting the line of scrimmage quickly and with force, ended up with more carries than McCaffrey, finishing with 14 for 65 yards to McCaffrey’s 10 for 68 yards.”

Is there a changing of the backs with 49ers?

Those carry totals should alarm McCaffrey owners in fantasy football. However, does this mean it’s a shared backfield? Certainly, the 49ers didn’t stray from McCaffrey last year.

“McCaffrey’s usage was a far cry from 2025, when he carried the team in the first half of the season and finished with 413 touches, the most by any NFL player in a season since 2014,” Barrows wrote. “The most carries his backup, Brian Robinson Jr., had in a game in 2025 was nine. Black’s ninth carry came late in the third quarter, a 14-yard first-down scamper.”

It’s definitely a different attitude and approach. And it didn’t come out of the blue, according to ESPN.

“Rookie running back Kaelon Black will record at least 650 rushing yards as the 49ers — for real this time — take it easy on Christian McCaffrey’s workload,” Steh Walder wrote in a bold prediction earlier this week. “That would be 250 more rushing yards than last year’s backup running back, Brian Robinson Jr.”

But, of course, Kyle Shanahan won’t forget about McCaffrey. So, unless Black simply looks awesome throughout his rookie year, Shanahan won’t be able to help himself in turning to McCaffrey more often than he did in the opener. This is especially true when the playoffs grow closer.