Carolina Panthers: Christian McCaffrey on the verge of history
By Luke Tucker
Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey is on the verge of NFL history, and could break a significant record on Sunday.
When the Carolina Panthers made him the eighth pick in the 2017 draft, many analysts and scouts doubted Christian McCaffrey as a lead back in the NFL. Three seasons later, those “experts” couldn’t be more wrong. McCaffrey has touched the ball a league-high 387 times entering Sunday, and leads the league in total yards and is second in touchdowns. The Panthers’ star running back is on the cusp of breaking the NFL’s single-season record for most yards from scrimmage, and could very well do so in the season finale this weekend.
McCaffrey needs 216 total yards on Sunday to break the single-season yards from scrimmage record.
In a season that has been full of disappointment for Panthers fans, McCaffrey has done anything but disappoint. The third-year running back has racked up 2,294 yards from scrimmage in 2019, and is closing in on Chris Johnson’s single-season record. If McCaffrey can manage 216 more yards on Sunday, the record will be his. 1,361 of those yards have come on the ground, while the remaining 933 have come through the air. He is averaging nearly six yards per touch, and has almost 600 more yards than the next closest player.
CMC has posted at least 150 yards in nine of Carolina’s games this season.
For most players, 216 yards seems impossible to attain in just one game. McCaffrey, though, is not most players. Nine times this season he has turned in more than 150 yards, scoring 11 times in such games. He tied his career-high in Week Five against Jacksonville when he piled up 237 total yards. He accomplished the same feat in Week 11 of the 2018 season. McCaffrey is averaging 153 yards per game coming into Sunday, and if Carolina elects to intentionally help him chase the record, then obtaining the 216 yards seems plenty doable.
This weekend’s opponent, the New Orleans Saints, rank in the middle of the league in yards per carry, and allow the ninth-most receptions to opposing running backs. New Orleans’ defense is good, no doubt, but they do have some holes McCaffrey can exploit. In his career, CMC is averaging just under 100 yards per game against the Saints, and in Week 12 of this season, he racked up 133 yards and two scores against them. The record won’t come easy, but the Pro-Bowler has done more than enough to suggest he can take it.
Regardless of whether or not he breaks the record, McCaffrey will be in-line for a huge contract extension in the near future.
After his first three seasons in the league, CMC has emerged as one of the best running backs in the NFL, and perhaps one of the best all-purpose backs ever. If he can reel in 67 more receiving yards, he will become just the third player in NFL history to post 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same year. Just this past weekend he became the first running back in NFL history to have two seasons with at least 100 receptions, and has the second-most receptions of any player ever through their first three seasons.
His ability as a runner are evident as well. McCaffrey added about 10 pounds of muscle before the 2019 campaign, and it has helped him become a stronger runner. At 5-11, 205, CMC is now one of the more powerful–as well as explosive–running backs in the league. That being said, he will be in-line for a mega-extension either this offseason or next. Reports are that the extension could be north of five years and $85 million, which would make him the highest-paid running back in the NFL.