![INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 16: Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers runs after his catch during a 24-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on October 16, 2022 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)](https://oponame.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Christian-McCaffrey-Trade-Is-Exactly-What-Win-Now-49ers-Need-For.jpg)
Harry Comment/Getty Images
There’s nothing quite like a late-night blockbuster to kick off a weekend of NFL action.
Late Thursday night, the San Francisco 49ers sent shockwaves across the league when they handed out a pick package to the Carolina Panthers for star running back Christian McCaffrey.
For the player, it’s a kind of homecoming – a return to Northern California after playing at Stanford University. For the Panthers, it’s a sign that Carolina is blowing up the team and starting from scratch.
For the 49ers, that means San Francisco is going all-in for the 2022 season. That the team is convinced enough that McCaffrey makes them a legitimate Super Bowl contender to further mortgage the future of the franchise. This addition, arguably the NFL’s most versatile and dangerous back, is the missing piece that will put the 49ers on top.
While there’s no guarantee McCaffrey’s arrival puts the 49ers on a collision course with Glendale, Arizona and Super Bowl LVII, it’s hard to argue that it hasn’t yet shifted the balance of the game. forces heading to San Francisco in the NFC West and make the Niners the NFC’s second-best team on paper.
No one was happier to hear that McCaffrey was heading west than 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, as he said on KNBR Friday (h/t 49ers Webzone’s David Bonilla).
![CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – OCTOBER 09: Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers stands on the field during the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Bank of America Stadium on October 09, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)](https://oponame.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Christian-McCaffrey-Trade-Is-Exactly-What-Win-Now-49ers-Need-For.png)
Eakin Howard/Getty Images
“It was more of a big smile and then, ‘Okay, I gotta go back and do the third down, do the red zone, do everything again,'” Shanahan said. “And then it was like, ‘Wait a second. He still has to come for the physical. He won’t be in practice.'”
It’s not hard to see why Shanahan was excited. Through the first six games of the 2022 season, McCaffrey was essentially the Panthers’ offense. Even as defenses clung to him on the league’s worst team, he amassed 670 total yards. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry and was on pace for over 90 receptions and nearly 1,900 total yards.
McCaffrey’s last full season was one of the best by a running back in recent memory. In 2019, he became the third player in league history to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season. He averaged 4.8 yards per carry that season and scored 19 touchdowns.
Simply put, when healthy and at the top of his game, 26-year-old McCaffrey does everything at the elite level. It’s not that opponents haven’t tried to stop him in Charlotte. They just couldn’t.
![SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 27: Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers carries the ball for a two-point conversion against the San Francisco 49ers in the third quarter of an NFL football game at Levi's Stadium on October 27 October 2019 in Santa Claire, CA. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)](https://oponame.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Christian-McCaffrey-Trade-Is-Exactly-What-Win-Now-49ers-Need-For.png)
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Of course, adding a player of this caliber didn’t come cheap for San Francisco. By Ian Rapoport from NFL Network, the 49ers sent Carolina a second-round pick, a third-round and a fourth-round pick in 2023 and a fifth-round pick in 2024. His contract carries caps of $12 million in 2023 and 2024, although that this year’s cap is negligible after the Panthers reworked McCaffrey’s contract in the offseason.
Combined with what the 49ers spent to trade quarterback Trey Lance in 2021, Shanahan and general manager John Lynch can just sleep when the 2023 draft rolls around.
There are admittedly risks to the deal beyond the costs in project capital and ceiling space. McCaffrey has missed 23 of 33 games in 2020 and 2021 due to shoulder, ankle and hamstring injuries. But the injuries weren’t repetitive and he didn’t show any ill effects from them in 2022.
The future is now in San Francisco. The team pushed all their chips into the middle of the table. When you consider what McCaffrey could add to the 49ers offense, it’s not hard to see why.
The first six weeks of the 2022 season have been eventful in San Francisco. The Niners have a win over the rival Rams under their belt, but they also have losses to two teams with losing records. Last week, the Niners were handled with relative ease by a Falcons team no one predicts for the Super Bowl.
![SANTA CLARA, CA – OCTOBER 27: Carolina Panthers Running Back Christian McCaffrey (22) carries football during the NFL game between the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on October 27, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Cody Glenn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)](https://oponame.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Christian-McCaffrey-Trade-Is-Exactly-What-Win-Now-49ers-Need-For.png)
Cody Glenn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Like the team itself, San Francisco’s offense has been uneven. But even before the trade, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo confidence expressed that the offense took a turn:
“I mean, there’s just certain plays where there’s a confidence factor. I think that plays a big part in any offense, just between the quarterback and the skill guys, there’s a confidence factor. trust that, it’s not just given either. You gotta earn this thing, you gotta earn it here, in the locker room on the pitch, away from the facility, whatever you do. I think there’s a confidence factor that we are going in the right direction. We just have to make it happen sooner rather than later.”
San Francisco’s offensive issues can be partly attributed to Garoppolo returning to the roster without the benefit of much offseason work after Lance suffered a season-ending injury in Week 2. And given that McCaffrey has almost no time to prepare to face Kansas City. Chiefs on Sunday, Shanahan admitted he couldn’t play in Week 7.
“I still don’t know if we can get him here on Sunday or not,” he said. “I know for sure he’ll be here the following Sunday. But that’s kind of the reason why I’m on a wait-and-see approach at the moment.”
Once McCaffrey is up to speed, however, the 49ers offense should start heading in the right direction at warp speed.
![SANTA CLARA, CA - SEPTEMBER 10: Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers rushes in the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on September 10, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. The Panthers beat the 49ers 23-3. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)](https://oponame.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Christian-McCaffrey-Trade-Is-Exactly-What-Win-Now-49ers-Need-For.png)
Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images
Under Shanahan, the Niners have been one of the best running teams in the NFL using a menagerie of late-round picks and undrafted free agents. This year, the 49ers rank 12th in the league in running. Last year they were seventh. Players like Elijah Mitchell and Jeff Wilson Jr. were great discoveries by the 49ers, but they don’t have McCaffrey’s level of talent at all.
With McCaffrey in the fold, the 49ers have the best skill-position talent assemblage in the NFC. Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel at wide receiver. George Kittle on tight end. And now McCaffrey. Samuel and McCaffrey can also do damage from the entire formation – chess pieces that are a dream for Shanahan and nightmares for opposing defensive coordinators.
Add to that that the 49ers are expected to get offensive tackle Trent Williams back soon and the San Francisco defense ranks first in the NFL in total defense and second against the pass, against the run and in points allowed, and the only thing Standing between the Niners and the NFC’s best team title on paper is Garoppolo.
However, even if you think the 49ers aren’t the best team in the NFC, they’re easily favorites in the NFC West. The Rams are 26th in the league on offense thanks to dismal running play (Los Angeles would have
made his own push for McCaffrey) and his offensive line. The Seattle Seahawks are a great story, but their atrocious defense caps their ceiling. And while the Arizona Cardinals aren’t a bad team, they’re not a good team either.
It seems strange to be so excited about a team that will most likely be 3-4 in a few days. But even if San Francisco loses to the Chiefs on Sunday, it won’t be more than a game behind first with 10 to play. Next week’s tilt with the Rams will feature a very different team than what we’ve seen so far. A more dangerous team.
And in February, we may well look back to October 20 as the day the balance of power shifted in the NFC.
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