Christian McCaffrey and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan have received recognition for their contributions to a remarkable 2025 season for San Francisco, with both named as finalists for awards that will be announced at the NFL Honors ceremony during Super Bowl week.
McCaffrey is a finalist in three categories, with the 49ers’ do-it-all running back up for the MVP award, Offensive Player of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year.
That follows a season in which McCaffrey racked up 2,126 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns despite often struggling on the ground, averaging just 3.9 yards per carry. McCaffrey was once again devastatingly effective as a pass-catcher, and finished just 76 receiving yards shy of his second season with 1,000 yards as both a rusher and a receiver.
The undisputed focal point of the 49er attack, there’s little doubt McCaffrey was the 49ers’ MVP, but he is unlikely to take home that honor, with Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye considered the frontrunners.
McCaffrey similarly seems to be a long shot to win Offensive Player of the Year for the second time in three seasons, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba the heavy favorite to claim that award. Instead, look for McCaffrey to likely be named Comeback Player of the Year, his exploits this season coming on the back of a 2024 campaign that was ruined by Achilles and knee issues.
Shanahan, meanwhile, is unsurprisingly a finalist for Coach of the Year after guiding the 49ers to a 12-5 record amid another season of incredible adversity on the injury front.
It is an award Shanahan has yet to win despite his consistent success with the 49ers over the years. He was a runner-up to Jim Harbaugh in 2019 and to Brian Daboll in 2022. He finished fifth in the voting in the 49ers’ most recent Super Bowl season of 2023.
This year, he has stiff competition in the form of Liam Coen, Ben Johnson, Mike Vrabel and Mike Macdonald.
Coen, Johnson and Vrabel oversaw hugely impressive turnarounds in Jacksonville, Chicago and New England respectively. Macdonald, meanwhile, turned the Seahawks into a Super Bowl favorite and made his case for receiving the award over Shanahan with how the Seattle defense shut down the 49er offense in Week 18 and in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Still, it is a regular-season award. The 49ers split their regular-season series with Seattle and, given the injuries the 49ers overcame at quarterback, wide receiver, tight end, on the defensive line, and at linebacker, it’s difficult to dispute the argument that no coach in the NFL did a better job of maximizing the talent at his disposal than Shanahan.
Hopefully, the panel of voters that decide the award saw it the same way.
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