{"id":4805,"date":"2026-07-18T12:06:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T12:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805"},"modified":"2026-07-18T12:06:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T12:06:27","slug":"will-49ers-eye-mccaffreys-backfield-heir-or-just-his-top-backup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805","title":{"rendered":"Will 49ers eye McCaffrey’s backfield heir, or just his top backup?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

SANTA CLARA \u2013 Christian McCaffrey\u2019s days as the 49ers\u2019 offensive hero are numbered. Faithful fans know the concerning digits:<\/p>\n

Read more An M4 rifle was stolen from an SJPD assistant chief\u2019s SUV. What happens now?<\/a><\/p>\n

30: His age as of June 7, marking the proverbial glass ceiling for NFL running backs.<\/p>\n

3.9: His average gain per run last season, his lowest since his 2017 rookie season out of Stanford.<\/p>\n

413: His NFL-high touches en route to AP Comeback Player of the Year honors.<\/p>\n

The 49ers are well aware. They are also grateful McCaffrey is as determined as ever to produce as a 10th-year dual threat who apparently changed personal trainers this offseason.<\/p>\n

Training camp begins next Saturday, and it must uncover the 49ers\u2019 next-best backs. Maybe one will be McCaffrey\u2019s heir apparent. Maybe not. All the focus is on this season, not next.<\/p>\n

BEST COMPETITION<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jordan James and Kaelon Black have the makings of a sensational competition as 5-foot-9, 208-pound backs behind McCaffrey.<\/p>\n

Read more UCSF shifts specialized children\u2019s care between Oakland and San Francisco, raising travel concerns<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

James\u2019 rookie season last year got waylaid because of knee and finger injuries in training camp. His first touches didn\u2019t come until the final minutes of the season (six carries for 28 yards; 7-yard catch). But the 22-year-old was taking first-team reps in organized team activities while McCaffrey did individual conditioning.<\/p>\n

Black, 24, impressed in spring with his burst and catching ability. He\u2019s a rookie but he spent six seasons in college and is coming off a national title at Indiana.<\/p>\n

DARKHORSE VETERAN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Could Patrick Taylor Jr. resurface as a trusted veteran? He missed last season because of a dislocated shoulder from the 49ers\u2019 preseason game at Las Vegas. Brian Robinson, last season\u2019s No. 2 back, left in free agency for Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

GUERENDO\u2019S OUTLOOK<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaac Guerendo\u2019s pectoral tear in the spring figures to shelve him through camp and make it unlikely he opens the season on the 53-man roster. Not a great way to start his third season, but the 49ers historically have needed a deep unit so an eventual comeback is possible.<\/p>\n

COACH\u2019S SCOUTING REPORT<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI see a guy that I think could be developed in the pass game. I mean, we definitely were excited about him and the first thing we loved about him was him as a runner. But, we\u2019ve gotten a lot of guys here who didn\u2019t start out great in the pass game, have the skill set to do it. They just haven\u2019t worked at it that much.\u201d \u2013 Kyle Shanahan in comparing Black\u2019s development as a receiver to that of ex-49ers Jordan Mason and Elijah Mitchell.<\/p>\n

Read more Evacuation warning issued as fire burns near Morgan Territory<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rookie Kaelon Black enters his first 49ers training camp with a shot at being Christian McCaffrey’s top backup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nWill 49ers eye McCaffrey’s backfield heir, or just his top backup? - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Will 49ers eye McCaffrey’s backfield heir, or just his top backup? - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rookie Kaelon Black enters his first 49ers training camp with a shot at being Christian McCaffrey's top backup.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-18T12:06:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4805#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4805\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Will 49ers eye McCaffrey’s backfield heir, or just his top backup?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-18T12:06:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4805\"},\"wordCount\":468,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4805#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e77b94d02dd51c0cb1289ce79be1a30f.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4805#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4805\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4805\",\"name\":\"Will 49ers eye McCaffrey’s backfield heir, or just his top backup? - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4805#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4805#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e77b94d02dd51c0cb1289ce79be1a30f.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-18T12:06:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4805#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4805\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4805#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e77b94d02dd51c0cb1289ce79be1a30f.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e77b94d02dd51c0cb1289ce79be1a30f.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4805#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Will 49ers eye McCaffrey’s backfield heir, or just his top backup?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Will 49ers eye McCaffrey’s backfield heir, or just his top backup? - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Will 49ers eye McCaffrey’s backfield heir, or just his top backup? - Next City Digest","og_description":"Rookie Kaelon Black enters his first 49ers training camp with a shot at being Christian McCaffrey's top backup.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-07-18T12:06:27+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Will 49ers eye McCaffrey’s backfield heir, or just his top backup?","datePublished":"2026-07-18T12:06:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805"},"wordCount":468,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e77b94d02dd51c0cb1289ce79be1a30f.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805","name":"Will 49ers eye McCaffrey’s backfield heir, or just his top backup? - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e77b94d02dd51c0cb1289ce79be1a30f.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-18T12:06:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e77b94d02dd51c0cb1289ce79be1a30f.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e77b94d02dd51c0cb1289ce79be1a30f.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4805#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Will 49ers eye McCaffrey’s backfield heir, or just his top backup?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}