How the 49ers will use Christian McCaffrey Week 1 against the Seahawks

This is incredible.

Just three days after Christian McCaffrey “had a little bit of a calf pull” in practice, according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, McCaffrey is expected to play in the 49ers’ season opener, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “He’s good to go,” a source told him.

This bodes extremely well for the 49ers’ chances to beat the Seattle Seahawks today. Without McCaffrey on the field, the winner of this game would be a toss-up. With McCaffrey on the field, the 49ers should win. And this is an incredibly important divisional game. The 49ers will feel bitterly disappointed if they lose their season opener in Seattle to Sam Darnold.

Still, it’s unclear how the 49ers actually plan to use McCaffrey.

Teams can’t make the playoffs in Week 1, but they certainly can ruin their season. And if McCaffrey were to make this injury worse and miss the next month or two, the 49ers are cooked. They can’t make the playoffs without him. We saw that last season.

So, the 49ers need to be careful with McCaffrey today. He can be a decoy a lot of the time. He can be on the field, drawing the attention of the defenders and freeing up space for his teammates.

But he should not have his usual workload. The 49ers need to protect him from himself. That’s why they traded for Brian Robinson Jr. a couple weeks ago — to keep McCaffrey fresh and healthy for the long haul.

McCaffrey should not carry the ball two plays in a row. After he gets the ball, he should immediately come out of the game and let Robinson replace him. Or Isaac Guerendo Jr.

Because if McCaffrey makes his calf injury worse today, he won’t be at fault — Kyle Shanahan will be. McCaffrey is supposed to be a warrior who will play through anything. He’s a football player, not a sprinter. And he’s a running back, one of the toughest positions on the field.

It’s Shanahan’s job to protect McCaffrey and to protect the team. And if that means using him as little as necessary in Week 1, so be it. These are the difficult decisions a head coach has to make in the NFL. The 49ers’ season depends on Shanahan making the right decision with McCaffrey today.

Let’s see what Shanahan decides to do.