Last week's Thursday Night Football game featured the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals in what became a high-scoring shootout for a foothold in the National Football Conference playoff race. You might remember it. You probably don't.
For all of the 76 points put up in Home Farm Stadium, Glendale, there was only one story topping NFL headline stacks that night — and it featured neither the Saints nor the Cardinals. Instead, the majority of the league and its followers were still wrapping their heads around the news that the San Francisco 49ers had snuck in and spirited Christian McCaffrey out of Carolina while other potential suitors counted and recounted their salary cap situations.
The Niners acted swiftly, fully aware that former Panthers head coach Matt Rhule's departure could lead to a fire sale in Charlotte. Left black-and-blue, metaphorically speaking, by a bruising couple of seasons under Rhule's rule, the Panthers look set for a complete teardown and rebuild, with plenty of assets — both McCaffrey and those less widely appreciated — likely to be on the way out (or looking for a way out). With the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams both rumoured to be sniffing around McCaffrey from the get-go, Niners GM John Lynch and his front office had to be quick — and prepared to 'F*** dem picks' LA-style.
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“I don’t think there’s anything he can’t do," head coach Kyle Shanahan enthused. "Whether it’s in the pass game, the run game, blocking, I think he’s a very talented player. He’s a very good runner; he has very good hands, and he has separation ability in the pass game. And I also think he’s a guy that, mentally, can handle a lot. Just watching how he plays, he’s a very smart player — and we’ve seen that at every level.”
Having landed their man, however, the tone of the conversation changed from asking whether San Francisco could strike first to whether they had been a bit too hasty to acquire a player who, while making a huge impact on the league from his 2017 rookie season out of Stanford, has also proven to be increasingly fragile of late. Given the 49ers own injury record (see this space last week), might the trade, even one returning Run CMc to the Bay Area, not be one made in heaven after all?
Sure, McCaffrey — once he has had time to learn the intricacies of a playbook put together by a head coach whose sister used to babysit him while their fathers changed after Broncos games — will be a valuable addition to a 49ers team that has struggled at times this season. However, he will have to be a Super Bowl kind of stellar to assuage those who feel the four-selection draft haul that went to Carolina was a worthy price to pay.
Already equipped with a monstrous defense, the 49ers' hopes of matching that strength on offense began slipping away with injuries to phenom QB Trey Lance and running back Elijah Mitchell, but McCaffrey brings a new kind of threat that should make the offense one to respect, at least. Along with Deebo Samuel — the self-styled 'wideback' weapon in San Fran — McCaffrey should provide a second every-down touchdown option if he operates at the top of both his run and pass game. By the time of his exit from Charlotte, and despite having been chained to a moribund Panthers offense, he was still averaging 100+ all-purpose yards per game, although his contribution often went overlooked as Carolina sank to the 1-4 record that cost Rhule his roost.
McCaffrey's week-by-week numbers suggest he should be a clear upgrade on a 49ers rushing attack currently led by Jeff Wilson and padded out by Samuel, Lance (currently still third in rushing yards on the season), rookie Tyrion Davis-Price, fullback Kyle Juszczyk and retreads like the now-departed Tevin Coleman. Prior to parting with the Panthers, McCaffrey had also reeled in 33 receptions — a lot of them in the flat — and still garnered 277 yards. His debut offering in Sunday's primetime loss to Kansas City instantly slotted him mid-grid on the Niners stat sheet, and he will quickly shoot up the order once he has the playbook down pat.
If everything works as Shanahan, Lynch and the front office hope, then San Francisco and McCaffrey will both be celebrating Super Bowl success in February. But, even ignoring that there are 31 other franchises with the same goal (alright, 30 if we discount Carolina) and that more than a few are consistently better than the 49ers, will the reward be worth the risk the red-and-gold took to land, with all due respect, an ageing superstar?
Yes, Jim Thorpe was Tom Brady before Tom Brady and played into his 40s, while Lorenzo Neal (Chargers), John Riggins (Washington/Jets) and Franco Harris (Steelers/Seahawks) were all still doing it well in to their 30s — hell, Adrian Peterson (too numerous to mention) still thinks he can do it and former 49er Frank Gore only left football to channel his energies into the ring — so there is scope for McCaffrey, still only 26, to continue plying his trade for a while yet. However, the average playing career for an NFL running back is barely three seasons, and flame out is around 28, so it's not only CMc that's running. His clock is too.
So what exactly did 2023 second-, third- and fourth-round picks, plus a fifth-rounder in 2024, buy the 49ers outside of McCaffrey's obvious talent? One injury of recent CMc proportions would end his ability to help this year's push for a Lombardi but, when on the field, he still poses a viable threat in the passing game — particularly in physical mismatches with linebackers — even if his running prowess has diminished with time. With so many bodies in the RB and WR rooms, is it feasible that the 49ers will limit McCaffrey's involvement to that of a committee member? That may help to preserve him for the post-season, but not necessarily ensure that San Fran gets there.
"He's not going to be the saviour," tight end George Kittle said of his new teammate, "but he's definitely going to help us out."
McCaffrey's Panthers career saw him touch the ball 1256 times — a number, remember, capped by lengthy injury absences (just 10 games played across the 2020 and '21 seasons) and not including snaps where he was required to block for lesser mortals — so the tread is beginning to wear on those tyres. And, remember also, that the Shanahan Niners don't exactly have the best of records with highly-regarded RBs, either in terms of performance or availability.
More significantly, perhaps, is the question of how long San Francisco intends to hold on to McCaffrey. Inconceivable as it seems given the draft capital it had to fork out for its new star, there is always the option that he may, in effect, be a high-price rental designed to get them over the Super Bowl hump this season — and this season only. McCaffrey's restructured Panthers deal made him a cheap (read sub-$1m) option for 2022, but will likely force another contract rewrite (to alleviate multiple $12m hits through 2025), plus sacrifices elsewhere on the roster, to make a long-term relationship viable. On the positive side, however, consider that, by nabbing CMc themselves, the Niners ensured no-one else got him.
"I think we’re a team that has a chance to be real good, but we’re not there yet — and Christian is definitely not the only thing we’re missing," Shanahan insisted. "We’ve got play to our complete ability, and we’re not there yet in all three phases, [but] I don’t think this is something we would look into if we thought it was just this year. I think Christian, with his contract and stuff, is going to be around here for a little bit [longer] and not just a one-year rental.”
McCaffrey makes his second 49ers appearance this Sunday, with a nationally-televised return against the L.A. Rams, who he faced in his final outing for the Panthers two weeks ago. The Rams were on a bye last weekend.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
HC Kyle Shanahan on the risk-reward of the 49ers trading for Christian McCaffrey .
"I view everything you do as a gamble. I view making trades as a gamble. I view not making trades as a gamble. But, if you’re going to gamble, first of all do it with talent and, second, do it with character — and I mean football character. I see that very strongly with this guy.”
MVP OF THE WEEK
George Kittle, TE
With the entire 49ers team failing to raise themselves for the biggest game of the season so far, picking an MVP is far from easy, but Kittle continued to work his way back from injury with his best performance of the season, racking up 98 yards on six receptions and adding a touchdown for good measure. Oh, and on National Tight Ends Day too...
STAT OF THE WEEK
10-for-80
The beleaguered 49ers did themselves no favours with another penalty-strewn outing, committing 10 infractions at a cost of 80 yards against the Chiefs. Although the Chiefs actually lost more ground to their own penalties, at least the Patrick Mahomes-led offense proved able to cover up the mistakes.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
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