2026 NFL Honors: Christian McCaffrey named Comeback Player of the Year after prolific rebound with 49ers

No player bounced back better from injury than Christian McCaffrey did in 2025. In turn, the San Francisco 49ers running back was awarded the Comeback Player of the Year award at the NFL Honors on Thursday evening. This comes on the heels of a 2025 regular season where McCaffrey played all 17 games for the Niners after being limited to just four games the year prior. 

McCaffrey endured an injury-riddled season in 2024, first starting out with Achilles tendonitis that forced him to miss the first eight games of that year. He returned in Week 10, but was later sidelined after suffering a PCL injury in Week 13 that led to him being shut down for the year. 

While that proved to be a lost year for the star back, he reminded folks why he is arguably the most well-rounded weapon in the league in 2025. McCaffrey not only started all 17 games for San Francisco this regular season, but his 413 total touches led the league. Meanwhile, his 2,126 yards from scrimmage and 17 total touchdowns ranked second and third in the entire NFL, respectively. 

McCaffrey became the first player since LaDainian Tomlinson (3) with multiple seasons of 400-plus touches. He also tied Tomlinson for the most seasons (3) with at least 2,000 scrimmage yards and 15 touchdowns all time. Meanwhile, Marshall Faulk is the only other player to have two 900 rushing yard and 900 receiving yard seasons all time, along with McCaffrey. 

The 29-year-old beat out a group of finalists consisting of Stefon Diggs (Patriots), Aidan Hutchinson (Lions), Dak Prescott (Cowboys), and Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars) for the award.