After a season lost largely to injury, Christian McCaffrey authored one of the NFL’s most emphatic return acts.
The San Francisco 49ers star running back was named the 2025 AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year on Thursday night at NFL Honors in San Francisco, a fitting capstone to a season in which he reestablished himself as the engine of the league’s most versatile offense.
McCaffrey earned 31 of 50 first-place votes to secure the award. Lions pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson finished second with nine first-place votes, followed by Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence and Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs among the finalists. Colts quarterback Philip Rivers and Saints wideout Chris Olave also picked up a first-place vote apiece.
After missing 13 games in 2024 due to multiple injuries, McCaffrey showed no lingering effects in 2025, starting all 17 games and shouldering one of the heaviest workloads in the NFL. He rushed 311 times for 1,202 yards and 10 touchdowns while also leading all running backs in receiving yards, piling up 924 yards on 102 catches with seven receiving scores.
McCaffrey finished the season with 2,126 yards from scrimmage, second in the league only to Bijan Robinson, and set a franchise record with 413 total touches. At times, he was the 49ers’ offense, leading the team in rushing yards by more than 800 while also pacing San Francisco in receptions and receiving yards.
The first-team All-Pro found the end zone in 12 of 17 games and made history by becoming the first player ever to record at least five rushing touchdowns and five receiving touchdowns in a single season — a testament to the dual-threat ability that defines his game.
With the honor, McCaffrey became the third 49ers player to win AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year since the award was reinstated in 1998, joining Bryant Young and Garrison Hearst. For McCaffrey, the award underscored not just a return to health, but a return to dominance.
