Christian McCaffrey Looks Like A Season-Saving Acquisition

The San Francisco 49ers gave up much of their 2023 draft to land Christian McCaffrey. After his historic performance in their emphatic Week 8 win over the Los Angeles Rams, they are highly unlikely to have any buyer’s remorse.

McCaffrey was the undoubted star of the show as the 49ers scored 24 unanswered points to thrash the Rams 31-14, completing a regular-season sweep of their NFC West rivals for the fourth successive season. The win saw the Niners improve to 4-4 and, more critically, 3-0 inside the division.

Racking up 149 yards from scrimmage, McCaffrey became only the fourth player since the NFL merger to throw for a touchdown, catch a pass for a score and register a rushing touchdown in the same game.

It was a scintillating performance from a player who had only joined the team 10 days prior when the 49ers surrendered four draft picks — three of them in 2023 — to acquire the star running back from the Carolina Panthers.

And it will naturally generate optimism this victory can be the catalyst for a 49ers surge into the postseason, with San Francisco hoping to get a host of injured players back after their Week 9 bye to aid a playoff push.

It is not solely McCaffrey’s production that will foster belief in San Francisco as a dangerous contender that can go deep into the NFC playoffs, but the manner in which he delivered it.

He recorded three big-play rushes of 10 yards or more, providing the explosiveness on the ground the 49ers have often lacked this season, but arguably even more impressive was McCaffrey’s work as a pass-catcher.

Five of his eight receptions went for a first down, with his success in making the first defender miss after the catch, and uncovering as he did for his touchdown reception that put the 49ers ahead, giving Jimmy Garoppolo a checkdown option who can deliver explosive plays.

Having that kind of safety valve offers greater encouragement to Garoppolo to work through his progressions — which he did superbly against the Rams — knowing that the odds of a throw to his checkdown resulting in a big play are greatly increased.

When San Francisco gets back from its bye, Garoppolo will have two such safety valves who can turn short passes into huge and pivotal gains. Deebo Samuel missed the win over the Rams because of a hamstring injury but, once he is fully recovered, opposing defenses will face the prospect of going against a 49er offense that will often have both McCaffrey and Samuel in the backfield.

That is perhaps the most exciting aspect of McCaffrey’s showing. It happened without the 49ers having their full complement of weapons, suggesting head coach Kyle Shanahan is only scratching the surface of what he can do with McCaffrey as an integral part of his attack.

If his second game as a 49er is just a taster of what opponents can expect from San Francisco down the stretch, then the Niners offense should be extremely exciting to watch down the stretch run.

San Francisco will look for its attack to be complemented by a defense that appeared to rediscover its dominant form of the first five weeks in the second half against the Rams, limiting them to just four first downs in the final two quarters.

The defense is soon to get healthier, as DeMeco Ryans’ unit may get the likes of Arik Armstead, Dre Greenlaw, Azeez Al-Shaair and Jason Verrett back after the bye.

It is no secret the 49ers have the talent to contend to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Through seven weeks of the campaign, it appeared as if injuries and inconsistency may derail any such hopes.

McCaffrey’s incredible start to life as a 49er will reconfigure the expectations once again.

The 2022 season was meant to be one in which the 49ers offense was weaponized by the infusion of Trey Lance as the starting quarterback. With Lance on the shelf for the season through the injury, it is now the Niners’ new superstar running back who looks like being the man to catapult Shanahan’s talent-laden group to the top of the NFL.