Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers' offensive scheme were love at first sight.
McCaffrey, who starred at Stanford for three seasons, returned to the Bay Area in a blockbuster trade between the 49ers and Carolina Panthers last fall. He now enters his first full season with San Francisco, surrounded by similar do-it-all offensive weapons like himself.
"It’s been so fun," McCaffrey said in an exclusive interview with former Stanford coach David Shaw. "I’ve always done that my whole life and it’s what I love to do -- getting mismatches and be able to be put in situations where I can succeed. The biggest thing I’ve realized that is so special about this team is you’ve got guys all around you that can do that as well."
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"George [Kittle] can block anybody in the league; he can also run routes, catch the ball and break tackles like anyone," McCaffrey told Shaw. "Deebo [Samuel] -- you can put him anywhere on the field and he can be explosive. [Brandon] Aiyuk is one of the best route runners I’ve seen. He attacks the ball, makes difficult catches and makes people miss in space. Jauan Jennings is a special receiver, especially on third down. And the depth you have -- Elijah Mitchell is a guy who can run any run in the book and is getting much better."
McCaffrey's dual-threat abilities as a runner and receiver are the biggest reason why he has been a top-five pick in just about every fantasy football draft the past five years.
He began his career backing up Jonathan Stewart on the 2017 Panthers but exploded onto the scene in 2018 with 1,098 rushing yards and 867 receiving yards. The next year, McCaffrey notched the third season in NFL history with over 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving.
San Francisco 49ers
A few injuries and one trade to the Bay Area later, McCaffrey isn't the 49ers' only legitimate offensive weapon like he was for his last few years in Carolina. He lines up next to teammates just as versatile that share a similar mentality.
"To me, you see the purpose of how the system is supposed to work, and you see why people are put in the positions that they’re in," McCaffrey told Shaw. "That’s a very broad definition of the offense. It gets much more detailed than that. But in theory, to me that is what is so fun to watch as a football nerd is how are we trying to execute on every play? And what is this play setting up? And when it is set up, how are you supposed to execute that?
"It all forms together as one. You feel the teamwork in that. If one guy is off a little bit, the whole play can be messed up. But if everyone is on, it’s pretty fun."
The 49ers' offense was "on" just about every game after McCaffrey debuted in a 49ers uniform. Over the team's 12-game winning streak that led them to the NFC Championship Game, San Francisco averaged 30.4 points per game. That was with quarterback Brock Purdy, the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, taking all the snaps under center.
McCaffrey and the 49ers plan to follow their do-it-all philosophy with a goal of taking home football's biggest prize -- the Vince Lombardi Trophy -- next February.