ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reached out to NFL executives, coaches, and scouts to rank the NFL’s top 10 positional players in the league. First up is running back, and, unsurprisingly, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey ranked first.
McCaffrey ranked second last year. This time around, he garnered 80 percent of the first-place votes. His lowest ranking was fourth:
He was dominant in every category. He consistently got positive yards before contact (888) and after contact (571), ranking first and second in those respective areas. The 49ers got 5.6 yards per carry when giving McCaffrey the ball on first downs. Inside the tackles, McCaffrey averaged 4.9 yards per carry, fourth among running backs.
And that’s before considering his elite receiving ability, catching 67 passes for 564 yards last season.
“He does everything exceptionally,” a veteran NFL offensive coach who has coached him said. “Explosiveness, vision, technique, versatility, great teammate, hardest worker, dedicated in the offseason. The only thing holding him back was when he was hurt. But he’s exactly how you would draw up a football player.”
McCaffrey has three seasons with at least 1,000 rushing yards and 700 receiving yards, trailing only Marshall Faulk (4) in NFL history.
He was the 2023 leader in explosive plays (10-yard runs and 20-yard receptions).
“San Francisco made one of the best trades of the decade when they got him [in 2022],” a player-personnel executive said. “He’s perfect for what they do.”
I’ll be curious to see how McCaffrey’s usage changes as Kyle Shanahan has another offseason to draw up schemes for CMC. Last year, we only saw one target over 20 yards—a 41-yard touchdown—and only three over ten yards. McCaffrey was automatic underneath, but his speed and his natural mismatch on linebackers could lead to more targets beyond the first-down marker.
Another angle is lightening McCaffrey’s workload during the season, so he stays healthy during a potential 20-game season and is fresh during the playoffs. But it’s easier said than done when you’re talking about taking a player of McCaffrey’s caliber off the field.
We’re a couple of seasons removed from the 49ers trading McCaffrey, and despite some criticism at the moment, giving up a few picks for an MVP player turned out to be a no-brainer. Who would have thought?