49ers select Christian McCaffrey No. 6
Anyone who has watched Kyle Shanahan’s offenses knows he loves running backs who can do it all. Whereas Leonard Fournette (more on him later) is a battering ram who is pretty one-dimensional, McCaffrey is a do-it-all stud who is a legitimate three-down back, despite what some scouts trying to pigeonhole him as a third-down specialist would have you believe.
Just watch practically any Stanford game in which McCaffrey played. Not only was he a bell-cow back who accounted for a huge chunk of the Cardinal offensive productivity, he routinely made moves inside the tackles that resemble Barry Sanders or LeSean McCoy.
This is a Shady McCoy type cutback here–McCaffrey is a bad dude. pic.twitter.com/ZGPaYQelvR
— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) March 28, 2017
The 49ers have stated they are willing to wait until next year to find their franchise quarterback. They have a very solid bridge in Brian Hoyer, who has excelled in Shanahan’s system in the past, and are building for the long term with the rookie head coach and general manager John Lynch.
With that in mind, they would have no issue taking a cornerstone offensive player in McCaffrey, who would be an excellent complement to Carlos Hyde, if he can stay healthy. The two of them have the potential to be at least as good as the two backs Shanahan had last year in Atlanta, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.