While I was fast asleep last night into the early morning, John Lynch and Scott Fitterer were busy making a deal. Carolina is sending two time All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey to San Francisco in exchange for a gaggle of draft picks. McCaffrey has been labeled one of the leagues best backs and joins an electric offensive scheme. Here are the winners and losers of the McCaffrey exchange.
Winners
Carolina’s Front Office
Losing a generational talent like McCaffrey does hurt, but when you look at what Carolina received in exchange, their front office has to be happy. In return for the Stanford alum, Carolina received a second, third, and fourth round selection in 2023 and a fifth rounder in 2024.
Their running back room is fairly thin now, but this upcoming running back class is loaded along with potential free agents to replace McCaffrey. They could draft Sean Tucker out of Syracuse or Jahmyr Gibbs out of Alabama in the second round. Or, they could try to sign Josh Jacobs, Kareem Hunt, or Jamaal Williams. It’s not ideal to have to replace such a good player, but there are many options.
49ers Training Staff
With how injury prone McCaffrey is, the 49ers training staff have to be pumping their fist. Between 2017-2019, McCaffrey played in 49 games. Since then, he’s only played in 16 games. He’s battled hamstring, ankle, and shoulder injuries through his career which is unfortunate because of how dynamic he is, but the 49ers training staff now have another reason to justify their job.
Losers
Jeff Wilson And Company
Brutal beat if you’re currently a 49ers running back. Jeff Wilson has been San Francisco’s lead horse this season, but with McCaffrey entering the picture, his touches are bound to drop off. Thus far, Wilson has 400 rushing yards and two touchdowns while McCaffrey has 393 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Similar numbers. While the two are close on the ground, McCaffrey blows Wilson out of the water in the pass game. With 33 catches and 277 receiving yards, McCaffrey has the clear advantage. This addition just bumps Wilson, Coleman, and Mitchell further down the depth chart and makes it so they’ll rarely see the field.
Carolinas Offense
This feels pretty obvious. So far this season, Carolina has 1,683 total offensive yards. McCaffrey has 670 total yards. That’s 40% of Carolinas offensive yards through six games. With how talented and versatile McCaffrey is, I have absolutely no idea where Carolina will find similar production from the remainder of the season. It appears that D.J. Moore is also going to be traded, so the Panthers top option on offense becomes running back D’Onta Foreman or receiver Laviska Shenault. Dark times in Charlotte.
Mike McDaniel
I wouldn’t call this a “loss”, but I don’t know where to slot Mike McDaniel. While he’s doing fine in Miami with the Dolphins, I’m positive he would have loved to coach McCaffrey with Deebo Samuel. Maybe I’m just projecting because I would have loved to watch McCaffrey get coached by McDaniel. He’s an offensive genius and would have gotten so creative with this duo. Damn shame.