Christian McCaffrey: Will dynamic running back’s addition be enough to win San Francisco 49ers a championship? | NFL News

Christian McCaffrey made his San Francisco 49ers debut last week in a 44-23 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

In that one game (10 touches for 62 yards), his impact wasn’t felt. However, his widely discussed blockbuster move from the Carolina Panthers has the potential to shape the 49ers’ season and their Super Bowl chances in years to come.

San Francisco sent second, third and fourth-round picks in next year’s NFL Draft, as well as a fifth in 2024, for his services. It was a high price to pay for a running back who missed the majority of the 2020 and 2021 seasons with injuries.

But having been ‘the man’ in Carolina since he was drafted eighth overall in 2017, he now joins an offense that already boasts one of the most dynamic, hard-to-defend playmakers in the entire NFL when healthy: Deebo Samuel.

It is not only worth asking how McCaffrey helps improve the Niners, but it is also worth wondering how opposing defensive coordinators will approach stopping McCaffrey and Samuel.

Let’s dig into what makes them so special.

Versatility is key

Running back McCaffrey can line up out wide

Wide receiver Samuel is often used in the backfield

Have a quick scan over these stats:

Season A: 287 carries for 1,387 yards, 116 receptions for 1,005 yards, for 2,392 scrimmage yards and 19 touchdowns.

Season B: 59 carries for 365 yards, 77 receptions for 1,405 yards, for 1,770 scrimmage yards and 14 touchdowns.

This is not a “which one is better?” situation. These numbers – from McCaffrey’s 2019 campaign and Samuel’s breakout 2021 season – showcase just how versatile and entertaining these two players are.

Both are All-Pro talents. Both are described as players who could start at either running back or wide receiver. Both can beat you in every area of the field.

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Samuel produced an electric 57-yard touchdown to help the San Francisco 49ers beat the Los Angeles Rams last time they met

McCaffrey, the so-called running back, is one of only three players in NFL history to record 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season.

Samuel holds the record for most rushing touchdowns in a single season by a wide receiver (eight last year), and even coined the term ‘wide back’ to describe his own position on the field.

Those draft picks weren’t traded for ‘just a running back,’ they were traded to revolutionise an offense come the important playoff moments.

Why did the Niners do it?

The 49ers reached the Super Bowl in the 2019/20 season, suffering a 31-20 loss to Patrick Mahomes and company. They missed the postseason in 2020/21 before returning last year and beating the Cowboys and Packers before a conference championship loss to their division rivals and ultimately the Super Bowl champions, the Los Angeles Rams.

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The San Francisco 49ers gave up four draft picks to get McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers

So why would they choose to give up a decent portion of their future draft capital, especially for a player at a position that appears to have been productive with Kyle Shanahan as head coach regardless of which player lines up there?

First, the influence of the Los Angeles Rams can’t be overstated – not just on the Niners, but on the rest of the league. LA mortgaged future draft picks to get their Vince Lombardi trophy, and it paid off. As is so often said, the NFL is a ‘copycat league’ and that is the most recent model of success. Why use draft picks when you can offer them for a known talent?

Secondly, and more specifically to the 49ers, is that they are winning with defense. In order to make a playoff run, they simply need to score more points. They had the third-best defense in terms of yardage allowed last year, and in their three postseason games, held opponents to 17, 10, and 20 points. The issue was they scored 23, 13, and ultimately just 17 when it mattered most.

Their bottom-half scoring offense (20.7 points per game in 2022) won’t cut it when it comes to crunch time and top-tier playoff defenses.

McCaffrey made his Niners debut last week

Head coach Shanahan said this week about his attack with McCaffrey: “It’s how you spread the ball around. We do get our backs the ball in the run game and the pass game. … We don’t have any backs who can’t do stuff in the pass game, but we just added a back who excels in the pass game. So it does add more there.

“It gives you another option, but you don’t know how that’s going to play out in a game. It’s nice to have a big threat at halfback there, where you feel like a WILL linebacker or an outside linebacker or safety are going to have a tough time guarding him. And defenses think that too when they watch tape.”

Having McCaffrey there, usually alongside Samuel, will have defensive coordinators sweating – and that’s before they have to account for third-year receiver Brandon Aiyuk and former All-Pro tight end George Kittle. For Sunday at least, McCaffrey alone should continue to open up the field.

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Watch the best from Deebo Samuel’s outstanding breakout season in 2021

Success rests on the quarterback’s shoulders

The key player not mentioned so far is quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, one of the more polarising starters in recent years. He arrived in a trade from New England and had immediate success, winning his first five games with the team. Then in 2018, he tore his ACL and missed almost the entire year.

In 2019, he led the team to the Super Bowl and had an outstanding campaign, but only played six games in an injury-marred 2020 season.

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has had a rollercoaster career with San Francisco

Again he bounced back in 2021 with a 9-6 regular-season record and two playoff wins, but he was still benched to start this season in favour of last year’s third overall pick Trey Lance. Lance had a season-ending injury of his own in Week Two and here we are, with ‘Jimmy G’ back at the helm and performing… unpredictably.

He is performing just below his career average (64.3 per cent completion percentage, 95.7 quarterback rating, 7.9 yards per attempt this season compared to 67.3, 98.5 and 8.3) and has thrown nine touchdowns to four picks. He is essentially 3-3 this year, having taken over from Lance early against Seattle.

After the trade for McCaffrey, ‘middle of the road’ from Garoppolo will no longer be acceptable if San Francisco want to go on a run. In a wide-open conference with just five teams with winning records so far, who says they can’t?

On Sunday, they could rejoin Seattle at the top of the NFC West with a win and a Seahawks loss. Will McCaffrey’s addition put them back in contention to go on a run in the second half of the year? Will Samuel’s absence be too much to overcome?

Watch the San Francisco 49ers at the Los Angeles Rams live on Sky Sports NFL at 8.25pm on Sunday.