The San Francisco 49ers paid a premium price to acquire running back Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers ahead of the trade deadline this year. A second, third and fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft was sent to Carolina, but McCaffrey has been worth the price thus far.
McCaffrey’s comfortability level has gone up every week since joining the team and now as the unquestioned starter, the team will be relying on him even more. He has had a few shaky performances on the ground thus far in his 49ers tenure, averaging under 4.0 yards per carry in three out of the last four games leading up to this weekend’s matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Despite dealing with what the team described as knee irritation, McCaffrey was excellent against the Buccaneers. He ran the ball 14 times for 119 yards, adding two receptions for 34 yards and another touchdown.
That was the second time this season that McCaffrey scored both a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game. As shared by NFL on CBS, that is the 11th time in his career that he has accomplished that feat, tying him with the great Jim Brown.
Anytime that a player accomplishes something that Brown did, you know that they are joining an elite club. Brown was arguably the best running back to ever play professional football and McCaffrey is certainly one of the best backs of this generation with his dual-threat ability.
It would not be surprising if McCaffrey accomplishes this feat at least one more time during the regular season to break the tie. Brock Purdy, who has taken over as the starting quarterback, has shown a willingness to pass to his running backs as McCaffrey has 13 targets in the two games he has appeared in.
With Elijah Mitchell on IR again and Deebo Samuel getting injured against Tampa Bay, Christian McCaffrey could see his workload continue to increase as we head toward the postseason.
