Alright. Seasons Over. How do YOU Grade Christian McCaffrey's Rookie Campaign

[Hoenheim]

You can include the playoff game in his eval. 

Final Stats : 

• 117 rushes / 435 rushing yards / 3.7 yards per carry / 40 long / 27.2 rushing yards per game avg / 2 rushing touchdowns
• 80 catches / 651 receiving yards / 8.1 yards per receptions / 37 long / 40.7 receiving yards per game avg / 5 rushing touchdowns  
• 1086 yards from scrimmage / 7 total touchdowns 

Its kinda difficult for me to evaluate him. I basically have two different viewpoints on him.

Purely as a running back, he had an atrocious ypc in the first half o the season. Absolutely hated how he went down so easily from arm tackles and dudes just dragging him down from the ground , very disappointing. His shiftiness was also abysmal early in the season. He averaged over 4 yards a clip in 2nd half. Seemed to be running much better and getting with the improved run blocking , and even belted out some impressive longer runs against Dolphins, Falcons , and Jets . 

Looking at him more as a slot WR, he's been very good , although I'd not say great. His speed is good , elsuiveness is good after catching . He also somehow displays strength in after some catches , for example a play against the Patriots he catches about a 5 yarder near the sideline, stiff arms this dude and plows him foweward for another 5 yards. Maybe its the momentum he picks up with the extra space? For the most part he didn't show the ability to really break short passes wide open down the field , with a few notable exceptions vs Saints 2x , vs Jets. 

I think his last major play in our unfortunate WC loss to the Saints, he reallly showed the tantalizing potential of what he could be. Starts out in RB position next to Cam, runs out and  catches a pass at the 50, makes ONE simple juke, and turns on the afterburners to the endzone. 

Its very apprent this dude is a pretty good WR. But I have no idea what to think of him as a RB. To his credit he has gotten 10+ carries in only 2 or  3 contest and did decently with his heaviest workloads  running wise. I almost want to give his running an incomplete grade given the shoddy run blocking for half a season. Hes got a whole offseason to possible bulk up a bit, work on his power game, and being abit more elusive running the ball as well.

Overall , Id give him a  B  Very solid consistent performer but not game breaking by any mean. If he becomes a more consitent runner that can get 4.something ypc next season and maintain his receiving prowess, could be lethal. No idea if he'll ever get the workload to see if he can carry the load as a leadback but, who knows. Id like to see him get more carries , and some longer passes down the field next year. I think we saw a very breif glimpse of his potential in that 1st drive vs Green Bay when he basically carried  the offense all the way down the field for a TD. 

This isnt like a final analysis or anything. Ill be looking at his stats carefully through his time here , so he's going to be 24/25 around the end of his rookie contract and we'll have a much better sense of what kinda player he is. 

I did such a long analsyis b/c this draft is pretty sparse in terms of players who actually got time to show out this year. Samuel was injured for much of it, Hall and Elder on IR, Armah and Moton barely used , and Butker traded to the cheifs. This draft is impossible to evaluate right now b/c of all of that. 

 

[JARROD]

A

[Panthers Fanatic]

Fair assessment. I think spending half a season trying to figure out how to integrate him into the offense was a major factor. We'll know better about CMC the running back midway through next season. I was pleasantly surprised at his durability, which was my main concern when he was drafted. Here's hoping Shula continues to "evolve" his role.

I'll give him a solid B++ and I'm glad he's a Panther!

[LinvilleGorge]

B

I was C+/B- before the big play in the playoffs. That was the type of splash plays I was expecting from him. Definitely underwhelming as a runner roght now, but the guy has talent. Gotta add strength this off-season.

[NeedSumD]

proved late in the year he is a much better slot and hybrid more than a RB.  Swiss Army knife he wasn’t used correctly most of the year.

[FugAllY'all]

In all honesty, considering we spent the 8th pick on him, I'd much rather he spends most of his career in the slot instead of bashing his small frame against linebackers. His career will be much longer as primarily a slot receiver, or only put him in the backfield on passing downs. 

[Saca312]

First half:

Runner: D

Receiver: A

Overall: B-

While McCaffrey had no help from his line, he was also missing holes and clearly uncomfortable as a runner. He displayed some flashes early on, but really as a pure runner was very mediocre early on. Even didn’t elude a few tackles he should’ve been able to. D if based on running alone.

As a receiver, he was exceptional. Ran good routes and did everything you’d hope for in a true reliable slot guy and more. Not truly gamebreaking early on, but a reliable guy who did nothing wrong. A from me from that.

However...

2nd Half

Runner: A

Receiver: A+

Overall: A

Complete turn around. Started breaking tackles, finding holes, and looking like the Stanford product I saw on film. Made nothing out of nothing and potentially looked like a workhouse back. While he’ll definitely need to be more aggressive running through tackles, he’s shown he can finally break some and wiggle through tough holes. 

As a receiver, he also improved. Started running crisp and beautiful routes and had more big play potential. Looks like a complete NFL receiver. Does a ton in space when given. 

Really excited about his potential when he has playmakers around him opening up space. Plays like we saw against the Saints from CMC likely more frequent.

Season Overall Grade: A-

[Jimmy]

A 

[lightsout]

As a runner, he has the tools you want in a scat back. He should be hitting from C gap to sideline with the occasional inside run to keep the defense honest. We did not use him like that. On top of that, the OL was pure garbage the first half of the season and marginally better in the 2nd half of the season. This is why CMC "got better as a runner as the season went on". Nothing changed with his game. He would always get low and try to fall forward, he would always try to make that first cut and get north.

As a receiver, same story. When he was used properly, he shined. Unfortunately, many of his routes were ran directly at the sideline and by the time he caught it, he had time to make the initial guy miss and get yards assuming there was only one defender there (often wasn't the case). 

CMC gets a B for me overall on the year. As good as I could hope a rookie RB that is supposed to be used in certain situations to be. He was misused a lot, overly depended on for entire games, and not given an OL worth a damn. He would flourish running an I of some sort and following Armah. Sadly, this won't happen as long as Shula is here.

[JARROD]

Again I’ll say, Kamara and Ingram got shut down completely because our defense committed to killing them the whole game.

the teams we played.did the same.in some cases they were weak and we could overcome still and our running game looked pretty good.

CMac was dealing with the same that Stewart gets blamed for— when teams can commit to stopping the run and can do it, running backs look bad, washed up, done etc.

when a team has the ability to pass like New Orleans can, most teams loosen up and the team can go balanced and the running backs look great.

CMac I thought the same as many here until I saw the Saints start loosening up because Cam was lighting them up. 

I believe CMac gets an A. He’s smart, plays hard and keeps coming every time. Having 1200 yards and 7 touchdowns on a team where other teams sell out to stop the run every game is no joke. 

People talk about YPC and Stewart declining etc but that has more to do with our degrading weapons over the last years. This one was by far the worst except in small spurts where we had Byrd and Benjamin and Samuel etc. once those 3 were gone we were really screwed.

thats why he gets an A

get a balanced team around him and he’d probably have 2000 yards.

[pantherphan96]

B+. Run blocking and scheme was atrocious for the first 8 weeks. Stew ended up avg 3.4 ypc, so its not like it was solely on CMC. They need to utilize him more on outside rushing instead of between the tackles. Not bad for a rookie season though and adds an element to this offense that is needed.

[MrBubba]

Our run game was atrocious, Stewart had minor ypc also.  Some our line some defense, some Shula keep wanting to run him up middle.  Running back C+ as WR an A.  

[Mother Grabber]

he had a 56yd TD reception yesterday, but your stats show his long as 37 yards. are you sure yesterday’s stats are included?

[Hoenheim]

5 minutes ago, Mother Grabber said:

he had a 56yd TD reception yesterday, but your stats show his long as 37 yards. are you sure yesterday’s stats are included?

playoff stats are never merged with regular season stats anywhere . The stats I posted were just regular season . 

CMCs post season stats :

6 rush / 16 rushing yards / 2.7 ypc / 0 Rush TD

6 receptions / 101 receiving yards / 16.8 yards per reception / long 56/ 1 receiving TD