Another take on the CMC contract

[Paa Langfart]

I have not seen this article from the washpo cited on here and thought it pretty darn good write up.

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Nothing explains the complicated state of the NFL running back better than the reaction when a great one gets paid. Christian McCaffrey is the latest to reset the market, which means he is the latest to make everyone queasy about the likelihood that he can offer a good return on the Carolina Panthers’ gigantic investment.

Four years, $64 million? And the extension doesn’t kick in until 2022? Forget that he is deserving. Forget that, in 2019, he became just the third running back in league history with 1,000 rushing and receiving yards in the same season. Forget that he has a preposterous 303 receptions in his first three pro seasons. While his play easily justifies the fat new contract, we still doubt whether his future production will verify he was worth all the cash.

Such is the life of the NFL running back, the position in which accomplishments devolve into concerns about durability. As the depressing data of injury risk mounts, the value of a highly paid back is always in question. 

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So here comes McCaffrey, trying to reverse the perception. Fittingly, he became the highest-paid running back (on a per-season basis) in NFL history during the same offseason in which the Los Angeles Rams waived Todd Gurley II, a former standard-bearer. Gurley, who has a history of knee problems, was cut less than two years after he signed a four-year, $60 million deal that included $45 million guaranteed.

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 Of all the lucrative positions in the NFL, running back is by far the riskiest to make an investment in. But McCaffrey is also a new breed of back, a descendant of Marshall Faulk in style, with a modernized approach. Still just 23, he’s as versatile as it gets, and when you put him with Alvin Kamara and Saquon Barkley, the trio could create a new genre of tailback that fits the evolution of football.

 

By the end of this decade, the pure run-first back will be nearing extinction. The demand will be that all backs must be good pass catchers and true three-down players. There already has been significant movement in this direction, and it increases the value of backs with that skill set.

McCaffrey takes it to another level: He could be a wide receiver if he focused on it. It’s in his blood; his father, Ed, had 565 receptions and 55 touchdowns, and he earned three Super Bowl rings. In his three seasons, McCaffrey is more than halfway to his dad’s catch total. He can run between the tackles and fight for tough yards. He is a touchdown waiting to happen in the open field. He can catch it out of the backfield to make something out of nothing, and he has the potential (which Carolina hasn’t fully unlocked) to run just about every route, making him even more of a matchup nightmare.

McCaffrey, Kamara and Barkley — and younger players aspiring to be them — have a chance to be more than a special subset of running back. They could change the position.

Rhule and new offensive coordinator Joe Brady must be careful to maximize him as a weapon and not make him a crutch. There’s a big difference. Despite his history of durability, he can’t continue to carry the ball nearly 300 times and catch more than 100 passes, as he did in 2019, while playing behind a suspect offensive line and with a shaky quarterback. The Panthers have a lot of needs, and it will take multiple seasons to get it right. Until then, they need to be wise about McCaffrey’s workload.

more here

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/04/15/christian-mccaffrey-may-prove-value-highly-paid-nfl-running-back/

 

 

[dpm0409]

Indeed a pretty good write-up.  Thanks for sharing.

[shaqattaq]

17 minutes ago, bull123 said:

not buying any of it...

run the ball, stop the run...if you do that you will win...pass happy teams get beat in big games, always will

I agree 100% with your statement, but don't see what it has to do with this topic. The fact that CMC is a RB first and a receiver second. I get that Rhule has a history of being pass happy, and has signed a kagillion FA WR's so far, but you don't make someone the highest paid RB in history and not run the ball. At least I hope the hell not.

[MMA]

CMC was born a stud. He will be playing until 40. Probably even change position to QB.