The 49ers’ trade to acquire running back Christian McCaffrey was an all-in move aimed at righting a ship nearly capsized by a slew of injury problems and a struggling offense. Head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch believe the team is good enough to win the Super Bowl in 2022, and the McCaffrey acquisition is their attempt to push the club over the proverbial hump.
Buy 49ers TicketsWhile San Francisco’s defense has been superb in 2022, their offense has been as mediocre as it gets. With running back Elijah Mitchell sidelined by an MCL sprain the 49ers’ run game has struggled. Instead of waiting for Mitchell to get back perhaps after the Week 9 Bye, they pushed their chips in ahead of Week 7.
All-in for the 49ers, who don’t have a first-round pick in 2023, meant dealing a 2023 second-round pick, a 2023 third-round pick, a 2023 fourth-round selection and a fifth-round pick in 2024.
The amount of draft compensation for a player with McCaffrey’s injury history will surely raise some eyebrows. His impact on their offense could reap rewards well worth the risk though.
One of Shanahan’s first big moves as head coach of the 49ers was in 2018 when he inked free agent RB Jerick McKinnon to a sizable four-year deal despite a relative lack of production from McKinnon in his career. Shanahan believed McKinnon could be a dual-threat back that maximized the deception his offense thrives on. 21 personnel that runs out of an i-formation could quickly become a five-wide look with the running back, fullback Kyle Juszcyzk and tight end George Kittle all capable of splitting out and getting open in man coverage.
McCaffrey brings that same element but on a much more significant scale. He’s one of three players in NFL history to have 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season. He averages 4.6 yards per carry in his career, but he’s also capable of terrorizing defenses as a pass catcher. If Deebo Samuel is a wideback, McCaffrey is a running receiver (just go with it).
The 49ers could’ve looked around and believed they could win the NFC if the chips fell right for them. That’s along the lines of what they did in 2021 with their lone in-season acquisition coming in the form of defensive end Charles Omenihu. This season they took action, and the compensation indicates they have no plans of trying to move off of McCaffrey and his sizable contract any time soon.
Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle are all capable pass-catching weapons. The 49ers need a run game though to support quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and waiting on Mitchell meant the 49ers risking falling out of the race while they waited for him to get healthy.
McCaffrey has some injury issues of his own. He played in just 10 games between the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The 49ers are willing to take on that risk though because they believe McCaffrey is the piece that can elevate their offense to a level it wasn’t going to get without him. He can elevate their offense to the heights that allow them to compete against the Eagles, Chiefs, Bills or any other high-octane offense they’d face in the postseason.
It’s a risk to go all-in, but Super Bowl windows aren’t open forever. The 49ers believe they can win it this year, and this move is their swing for the fences.
