Christian McCaffrey: Is the upside even there to turn it around

[everlong]

1 minute ago, Crickett said:

Slot receiver maybe?

He'd excel at that role. HOWEVER, I don't think Carolina wanted a slot receiver with the 8th overall pick lol

[tyler735]

57 minutes ago, celestial said:

McCaffrey isn't a game breaker like Reggie Bush was. McCaffrey's 2.4 yards per carry is historically poor in comparison to good-to-great NFL RB production. Like Gurley and Carolina's own Stewart, Bush never averaged below 3.0 ypc until literally last year, his 11th year in the league. A better comparison for McCafrrey is a bigger Tavon Austin with better hands. He's a gadget player forced into a lineup by McCaffrey Truthers. Carolina should draft a RB next year and trade McCaffrey if he cannot play receiver.

Half way into his rookie season with a struggling OL..

[tyler735]

48 minutes ago, fraziafraze07 said:

For all the non-Panthers fans, y'all need to trust us on this.  We've seen all of our offensive snaps.  You haven't.  We aren't exaggerating when we talk about the offensive line.

Here's a good compilation of all Jonathan Stewart's runs from the Eagles game:

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/boards/topic/142790-the-blame-game-reviewing-all-of-jonathan-stewarts-runs/

On a few, Stewart maybe could have done more by identifying a hole.  But on the vast majority, he's getting hit in the backfield.  It's been like that against everybody this year, not just the Eagles.

McCaffrey hasn't been great running the ball.  He does go down easily when defenders get an arm on him.  But if the Panthers offensive line could give him a bit more space to get going, he and Stewart would be more effective.  The majority of the blame lies with the line. 

I think people are being too critical of McCaffrey considering he's just a rookie--albeit a highly drafted one--and they seem to be ignoring his contributions in the passing game.  Sure, we'd all like him to run the ball more effectively, but how can a rookie who is on pace for almost 100 receptions and has been one of the more consistent players in terms of us moving the ball on offense be a bust like some are already proclaiming him?  

Exactly!

[w4rrior723]

He's still going to be a stud. There are several reasons why Carolinas running game is anemic, and he's only a small part of that. J Stew is a stud and he can't find success in that situation, either. Was he over drafted? Yes. But there's about a dozen teams he could go to right now and put up crazy numbers. You see what he's already doing in the passing game with a wild innacurate Cam Newton.

[spilltray]

Carolina's OL is giving him nothing to work with and he wasn't drafted high based on his running skills.

 

Also, just because he is a good receiver doesn't mean he's a "3rd down back". He's an every down back who is great in the passing game and OK in the running game. If he has a decent offensive line and Cam isn't throwing with the accuracy of a shotgun, McCaffery should be able to maintain 4-4.5 ypc and have 80+ catches. He's not going to be a dominant ball carrier though. Running the ball he is solid but never going to be one of the best.

[tyler735]

On 11/2/2017 at 7:06 PM, celestial said:

You can't namedrop Todd Gurley as an excuse for every terrible rookie RB. The beautiful thing about the runningback position is that it is much difficult to fake brilliance and disguise inadequacy. People can use 10 different stats to justify a QB but RBs have only 1 or 2. 

To expound on this point, McCaffrey is not comparable to Gurley. Todd averaged 3.2 yards per carry behind a poor Rams' line in 2016. McCaffrey is averaging an abysmal 2.4 yards per carry behind the Panthers' line. Stewart is running behind the same bad Carolina line,  battling injuries, and still averaging 3.0 yards per carry. Presumably then the numbers imply McCaffrey is not even Stewart as a RB, let alone Todd Gurley.

Statistically, McCaffrey is right now a bust because, to this point, his production has fallen well below what is expected of a high 1st round pick. There is no reason to think McCaffrey will have a Gurley-like rise. Stewart has never averaged 2.4 YPA in any year of his career, and he's had poor offensive lines too.

Edit: McCaffrey's 49 touches, combined with his practice and preseason touches, is more than enough for Carolina to evaluate him. Nobody needs 300 touches to evaluate a RB's ability.

So now McCaffrey and Stewart are both at 2.9 ypc for the season. Stewart just finished with a 11 carry for 21 yard effort against the Falcons. It cannot be stated enough that this is a Panthers OL problem and not a RB problem at this point.

[showtime]

On 11/1/2017 at 2:12 PM, Darkness said:

The Panthers 8th overall pick has looked like a huge bust so far this season. On 49 carries, he’s gained only 117 yards (2.38 YPC). It’s shocking that for such an easy position to evaluate, actual NFL GM’s could get it so wrong. 

Do you guys think he can turn it around and live up to where he was drafted becoming a star RB, or is the upside just not there.

From watching him in college, I didn't get the sense that McCaffrey would be a star RB.  I kind of pegged him as an all-purpose type of player that can make some plays in the running game, passing game, and on special teams.  If he's going to mainly be a RB, I don't see much star potential.  As a RB, he needs to always be in a rotating back-field.  Is there any chance, with time, that he can become a WR?  I know it's extremely difficult to switch positions, but it's been done and McCaffrey is a talented pass catcher.

[El Ramster]

On 11/2/2017 at 11:27 AM, Danger said:

He's a poor man's Reggie Bush from Bush's early years.

Wouldn't that mean Pierre Thomas? 

[Danger]

Just now, El ramster said:

Wouldn't that mean Pierre Thomas? 

Pierre Thomas didn't have anywhere close to the moves, flexibility, and versatility Reggie Bush did.

[NJerseypaint]

He's getting a lot of work as a receiver, but he's failing to reach the quickness that was expected of him. This guy was supposed to be an open-field killer, juking guys out their cleats, and seeing what I have he doesn't seem to be making anyone miss. Maybe he needs to get up to NFL speed, but this dude is looking like the next Reggie Bush.

[MOSteelers56]

2 hours ago, Danger said:

Pierre Thomas didn't have anywhere close to the moves, flexibility, and versatility Reggie Bush did.

So would one refer to him as a...poor man's Reggie Bush?

[Danger]

Just now, MOSteelers56 said:

So would one refer to him as a...poor man's Reggie Bush?

Maybe a dying man's Reggie Bush. McCaffery outshines Pierre Thomas everywhere except in the stat sheet on the field. Which will come probably with time.

[Jlowe22]

Pierre Thomas was very hard to tackle though.  

McCaffery would look a lot better in a New Orleans uniform.

[Nbanflguy]

Every time I hear people talking about McCaffrey they bring up his size. They brought it up constantly during yesterday's game. Since when has 5'11 205 every been considered too small to play running back? Then the announcers made a crack after a post game interview wondering if that was Christian or a Ball Boy......

[tyler735]

14 minutes ago, Nbanflguy said:

Every time I hear people talking about McCaffrey they bring up his size. They brought it up constantly during yesterday's game. Since when has 5'11 205 every been considered too small to play running back? Then the announcers made a crack after a post game interview wondering if that was Christian or a Ball Boy......

Right! This has been something I've been wondering since his college days, and have brought up several times on this board. We've seen so many great RB's that have been right around the same size, and that doesn't even factor in that McCaffrey is still just 21 years old. He very well may end up at 210-215lbs in the next couple seasons as he is still very young.