The San Francisco 49ers looked like one of the NFL's best teams in Week 1. San Francisco crushed Los Angeles 27-7 in Australia in a game that never felt in doubt. One 49ers rookie has already played a big role in the team's offensive dominance.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan made sure to heap praise on rookie running back Kaelon Black during a recent interview.

“He earned in training camp to be our number two back. So he was who we were gonna go with, and just how prepared he seemed throughout the week,” Shanahan told reporters during his Wednesday press conference. “And there wasn't a time that, alright, Christian got this rep. It's a play for Christian, and his backup won't know what to do. He showed during the week how attentive he was, how much he knew, how much he was studying, whether he got the rep or not.”

The 49ers drafted Black in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft out of Indiana. Black immediately proved his worth in Week 1, logging 14 carries for 65 rushing yards. He ended up with four more carries that McCaffrey in the season opener.

Shanahan explained that Black being prepared made it easier for San Francisco to sub McCaffrey out of the game.

“And when you do that, even though certain things you definitely want to keep Christian in on, that just makes it a lot easier for [running backs coach Bobby Turner] to sub him,” Shanahan added. “He doesn't always know what play I'm gonna call and stuff. And when you're confident that the backup knows what he's doing and can do it, it just makes it easier on the position coaches.”

McCaffrey was threw some compliments to Black and Turner on Wednesday.

It is great to hear that Black is able to help the 49ers do load management with McCaffrey. Hopefully that should keep the veteran back explosive throughout the 2026 season.

Next up for the 49ers is a home game against the Dolphins. That Week 2 matchup kicks off at 4:25PM ET on September 20th.