There’s no love for running backs in the NFL these days, even for proven stars like Christian McCaffrey.
Teams don’t want to pay them big money no matter how much they produce. All you have to do is ask Las Vegas’ Josh Jacobs and the New York Giants’ Saquon Barkley. There’s a general lack of respect for the position because coaches and general managers believe there isn’t much difference between running backs.
You don’t have to take one in the first round to find a good one, and they’re not entirely wrong.
Christian McCaffrey is doing his best to change that mindset.
McCaffrey, who had 177 yards of total offense, scored four touchdowns on Sunday to help San Francisco thump Arizona, 35-16. He had 106 yards rushing and three touchdowns while catching seven passes for 71 yards and another touchdown.
“Touchdowns are a lot of fun,” he told reporters. “Hopefully, we can keep it rolling.”
McCaffrey also broke Jerry Rice’s franchise record by scoring a TD in his 13th straight game, including the playoffs. He scored on runs of one, two, and 18 yards and caught a six-yard touchdown pass.
The 18-yard touchdown was spectacular. He burst through the line of scrimmage, hurdled a defender, and bulled his way into the end zone.
“He’s a freak. He does everything for us,” 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy said after the game. “He can run the ball, run routes out of the backfield, line up as a receiver, and run routes. We’re thankful for him. He takes hits but keeps going. All you have to do is get him the ball in space, and he does the rest.”
McCaffrey is two games shy of the record for touchdowns in consecutive games since the AFL-NFL merger held by John Riggins and O.J. Simpson.
He currently leads the NFL with 459 yards rushing, nearly 100 more than Philadelphia’s De’Andre Swift.
Christian McCaffrey faces a tough task vs. Cowboys
He’ll have a tough test Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, who yielded 222 rushing and a 7.5 average in a 28-16 loss to the Cardinals in Week 3.
In their other three games, Dallas has allowed 235 yards rushing and a 3.5 average.
McCaffrey is tied with Raheem Mostert with seven touchdowns, and he leads the NFL with 600 yards of total offense.
At that rate, he will insert himself into the MVP conversation.
Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson was the last running back to win it in 2012 with 2,097 yards and 12 touchdowns. LaDainian Tomlinson was MVP in 2006 with 1,815 yards and 28 touchdowns, and Shaun Alexander won the award in 2005 with 1,880 yards and 27 touchdowns.
Since 2000, those three players are the only non-quarterbacks to win the MVP.
Christian McCaffrey can be next. That’s not bad for a player acquired at the trade deadline because Carolina, the team that drafted him, had almost nothing left.
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The 49ers sent a second, third, and fourth-round pick in 2023 and a fifth-round pick in 2024 to Carolina. The Panthers traded McCaffrey because he was 26 and had played 10 games in 2020 and 2021.
Clearly, the Panthers didn’t think he had much left. Well, they were wrong.
Christian McCaffrey is playing well in an offense that seems designed just for him.
Coach Kyle Shanahan orchestrates a power running scheme based on deception — and McCaffrey is the beneficiary. He’s scored 17 touchdowns in his past 13 games and 20 touchdowns in 18 games since the 49ers traded for him.
San Francisco is undefeated, and if McCaffrey keeps playing at this level, he’ll be in the final MVP conversation.
Jean-Jacques Taylor is an NFL Insider for Sportsnaut and the author of the upcoming book “Coach Prime“, with Deion Sanders. Follow him on Twitter.