Run CMC!

Holy smokes ladies and gentlemen! Lightning has struck! I repeat, lightning has struck! Christian McCaffrey is a San Francisco 49er!!

The big question: What are the 49ers getting in Christian McCaffrey?

Well, simply answer is… absolutely everything! He has the size, the speed, the durability, the balance, the vision, the agility, the hands, the name, the image, and everything in between! And when he’s healthy, he’s one of the best offensive weapons in the entire National Football League. 

Christian McCaffrey was born in Castle Rock, Colorado, on June 7, 1996, the son of former Stanford and NFL wide receiver Ed McCaffrey and former Stanford soccer star Lisa McCaffrey, so needless to say that he was born with incredible athleticism. He broke numerous Colorado high school records including career total touchdowns (141), career all-purpose yards (8,845), career touchdown receptions (47), and single season all-purpose yards (3,032). He was the unanimous Gatorade Football Player of the Year for Colorado in both 2012 and 2013. 

McCaffrey went on to play at Stanford University, arguably the most prominent and well-rounded academic and athletic schools in the entire country. He played in all 13 games as a true freshman for the Cardinal in 2014. In his collegiate debut, he had a 52-yard receiving touchdown against UC Davis and finished the year with 300 rushing yards on 43 carries and 251 receiving yards on 17 receptions with two total touchdowns. McCaffrey had a breakout season his following sophomore campaign in 2015. He surpassed Barry Sanders’s NCAA record of 3,250 all-purpose yards, finishing with 3,684. McCaffrey then had an even more unreal junior campaign. Throughout his 2016 regular season, he led the nation in all-purpose yards (212 per game) while leading the Pac-12 in rushing yards (1,603) and ranked fourth in the nation in rushing yards per game (146). He set a Stanford single-game rushing record with 284 rushing yards against UC Berkley, then was soon named 2016 All-Pac-12 first team and even the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year. After the season, Christian McCaffrey decided to enter the 2017 NFL Draft. 

Christian McCaffrey was selected in the first round with the eighth overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. On May 4, 2017, the Carolina Panthers signed McCaffrey to a four-year, $17.2 million contract with a signing bonus of $10.7 million. Ironically, he made his debut in the Panthers’ season-opener against none other than the San Francisco 49ers and recorded 47 rushing yards, 38 receiving yards, and a lost fumble in a 23-3 victory. From a statistical point of view, Christian McCaffrey’s time as a Panther was lengthy and impressive. Since entering the league in 2017, McCaffrey has averaged 113.6 scrimmage yards per game, which is the most of any NFL player in that stretch. He has 11 career games with at least 10 receptions, the most by any running back in NFL history. He has five career games with at least 100 receiving yards, tied for the third-most by a running back in NFL history. He became the third player in NFL history to record 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season. Thousands of yards, hundreds of touchdowns, and millions upon millions of dollars later though…. this monster of a running back is now a San Francisco 49er!

The San Francisco 49ers shocked the world on the night of October 20, when they swung a trade for the Panthers’ All-Pro running back, Christian McCaffrey. In the deal, Carolina received a massive haul of picks in the coming drafts. Per NFL Network, they received San Francisco’s second, third, and fourth round draft pick in 2023, as well as a fifth-round pick in 2024, which prompts the question… was it all worth it? 

First off, this move frees McCaffrey from a hopeless team and returns him to California. It’s also a move that makes tons of sense for a Niners offense whose playbook depends on papering over Jimmy Garoppolo’s inability to make throws downfield by surrounding him with players who can create huge gains after the catch. Putting McCaffrey on an offense with players such as George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco now has an unbelievable new threat in the backfield. This is a huge benefit for Garoppolo in 2022 and a young quarterback in Trey Lance in the coming seasons. The Niners have gotten a running game of McCaffrey’s skill yet and he remains a viable presence who also joins a solid squad of other great runners like Jeff Wilson, Elijah Mitchell and Raheem Mostert. 

Alright Niners fans… get ready! We now get to see what Christian McCaffrey can do in the red and gold. If nothing, it for sure is going to be fun to watch!

Go Niners!