49ers patch up backfield after McCaffrey's depth takes a hit

San Francisco's backfield behind Christian McCaffrey has been a mess through the first week of training camp, and the front office finally did something about it. According to Adam Schefter, the 49ers have signed veteran running back Khalil Herbert, adding a body with real NFL mileage to a room that suddenly needed one.

The move traces back to a Jordan James injury early in camp, which knocked out the guy who was penciled in as McCaffrey's primary backup. That left Kyle Shanahan staring at a thin depth chart just as padded practices ramp up, and thin depth charts in August have a way of becoming real problems in September.

Herbert isn't a household name, but he's not nothing either. He spent four seasons with the Bears after going in the 6th round back in 2021, bouncing to the Bengals and then the Jets last year, and across his career he's piled up 416 carries for 1,957 yards and 9 touchdowns in 63 games. Last season in New York was quiet — just 16 carries for 52 yards — but he's shown flashes of real juice as a rotational back and change-of-pace option when healthy.

This is a classic camp-body signing more than a splash move. San Francisco isn't handing Herbert a starting job — McCaffrey remains the engine of that offense whenever he's on the field, which itself has been a lingering question the last couple years. What Herbert gives them is competent depth who can step in and not look like a practice-squad body if something else goes sideways behind McCaffrey.

The 49ers didn't stop there either, waiving cornerback Eli Apple and DL Mikail Kamara to clear roster space, while also bringing in defensive lineman Titus Leo. It's the kind of roster churn that happens every August and rarely makes headlines on its own — but for a 49ers team with real Super Bowl aspirations, every move to shore up depth matters once the games start counting.

Worth watching now is whether Jordan James' injury lingers into the regular season, which would push Herbert from camp insurance into an actual rotational role. If McCaffrey misses any time — and he has before — Herbert suddenly becomes a lot more relevant to how this offense actually functions.