The 49ers aren’t waiting around to deploy their newest offensive weapon. Running back Christian McCaffrey expects to suit up Sunday when San Francisco hosts the Chiefs at Levi’s Stadium, just 13 miles up the road from Stanford Stadium where McCaffrey played his college football.
NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Thursday reported McCaffrey is likely to go vs. Kansas City in red zone packages only.
That would make sense since the team will have two days of walk-throughs to get McCaffrey up to speed. He may be able to get enough of the offense down to get a couple non-red zone looks in certain situations, but just having him inside the 20 would be helpful.
San Francisco this season is 10-of-17 in the red area this season according to Pro Football Reference. Their 58.8 conversion rate is good for 14th in the NFL, but it’s dramatically lower than their NFL-best 66.7 percent conversion rate last season. If they can start improving in the red zone, doing so against the Chiefs would be a good time for it.
McCaffrey gives head coach Kyle Shanahan a capable runner between the tackles and outside, but he’s also a threat as a receiver which could give the 49ers a handful of wrinkles to throw at the Chiefs right away.
The good news for McCaffrey as he gets up to speed is that there’ll be a full week of practice ahead of a Week 8 tilt with the Rams, and then he’ll have the Bye week in Week 9 to get further into the offense.
