Christian McCaffrey

Thrashen

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Below are the highlights of Christian's great outing against the Falcons. His stats through 9 games: 64 carries for 183 yards and 1 TD. 54 catches for 406 yards and 2 TD's. Also, after this week, "CM-22" is now a top-10 fantasy football RB. I know that doesn't mean much in real life, but it's good to see DWF's coveting a white RB for their FF team.

With Benjamin gone, Olsen returning from injury, and McCaffrey's increased touches, the Panther offense will be interesting to watch moving forward.


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Don Wassall

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  • Changing of guard coming, if not already here, at running back for Panthers
  • David Newton ESPN Staff Writer
  • CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Fans booed Sunday when Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart was tackled for no gain on his first carry after fumbling on the two previous series against Atlanta.
They cheered when the 2015 Pro Bowl selection trotted to the sideline.

Some fans obviously have given up on the 30-year-old back, who in Week 4 became the organization’s all-time leading rusher with (then) 6,967 yards, but the Panthers haven’t.

“We believe in Jonathan," coach Ron Rivera said Monday. “That is why we brought him back in and gave him the football again. That's why we gave him the carry at the end of the game as well."

The Panthers might believe in Stewart, but it might be time to admit that he has become a complementary piece to rookie Christian McCaffrey, instead of vice versa.

Or maybe it's time to just declare McCaffrey the lead back.

The grind-it-out running game the Panthers (6-3) hoped to have with Stewart isn’t happening. He was held to 21 yards on 11 carries against Atlanta. Four games ago, he had minus-4 yards on eight carries.

Over the past five games, the 2008 first-round pick out of Oregon has 120 yards on 62 carries. That’s an average of 1.9 yards per carry by a back who has averaged 4.3 yards per carry in his career and had a career-high mark of 5.4 in 2011.

Thirty, remember, is an age when statistics show that productivity for backs declines.

Not that McCaffrey has been lighting it up in the running game. Before a career-best 66 yards on 15 carries in the 20-17 victory over the Falcons, he had 117 yards on 49 carries -- or 2.4 yards per carry.

The eighth pick of the draft did most of his damage as a receiver prior to Sunday. But Sunday felt like a changing of the guard, even if the Panthers keep trotting Stewart out as the starter because of all he has done for the organization, on and off the field.

“He’s a big part of our identity," offensive coordinator Mike Shula insisted.

But what is Carolina’s identity? Newton has been the leading rusher the past four games, with 251 yards on 40 carries.

Former wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin said he wasn’t surprised that the Panthers traded him to Buffalo a week ago because, “I could kind of feel that the offense was kind of going toward another direction."

That direction is toward more speed, with players such as McCaffrey and second-round pick Curtis Samuel, a wide receiver out of Ohio State.

McCaffrey benefited the most from the Benjamin trade because he can play slot and wide receiver in addition to running back. He was on the field for 82 percent (53 of 65) of the snaps. That was up from 58 percent (38 of 65) the week before at Tampa Bay.

Stewart went from 43 percent (28 snaps) against the Buccaneers to 32 percent (21 snaps) against Atlanta. He was used as a decoy on an inside run on McCaffrey’s 4-yard touchdown run. Often prior to Sunday, McCaffrey was used more as a decoy in an attempt to open up inside running room for Stewart.

Asked if the offense could produce at an optimal level with Stewart as the inside presence, Rivera said, “Yes and no."

“It’s the flow of the game," he said. “If they are shutting things down on the outside, and we’ve got to run the ball up inside, I would much rather see Jonathan run it inside than ask Christian to do that.

“Although I think Christian has the ability for that, Jonathan is built for that."

Stewart, at 5-foot-10 and 235 pounds, is a more powerful back than the 5-foot-11, 205-pound McCaffrey.

But when Carolina was trying to control the clock with about eight minutes left and a 20-10 lead, it went with McCaffrey and Cameron Artis-Payne for five plays. McCaffrey had three runs for 12 yards.

On the game’s last series, with Carolina trying to run out the final 1:42, McCaffrey had three straight carries before Newton ran off the final seven seconds with a rollout and pass out of bounds. One of those was an 8-yard run off right tackle.

Stewart had only two carries for 4 yards in the final quarter.

“Sometimes a game calls for a certain flavor, a certain style of play," Rivera said. “As the game wears on and Mike makes decisions in terms of play-calling, it’ll dictate that."

Both Rivera and Shula said they weren’t concerned about fumbling becoming an issue for Stewart, who before Sunday never had two fumbles in a game. In the same breath, Rivera said for Stewart to be productive, “it’s about touches."

All signs point toward Stewart not getting the 18- to 20-plus touches a game he typically needs to be effective and wear defenders down with his power game. All signs point toward McCaffrey becoming a bigger part of the running game.

Shula doesn’t look at it that way and says the players don’t either.

“To me, that’s what’s unique about our football team and our offense," he said. “It’s an unselfish group. On paper, yeah, we all want more stats. We all want 100-yard rushing games. We all want 300-yard passing games.

“More so than all those things, we want to go win. There’s no better feeling than there was yesterday."

http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/...running-back-for-panthers-if-not-already-here
 

BeyondFedUp

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Dang, I'm surprised that's coming from an espn staff writer. Hopefully it is indeed a sign of CM getting more rushes and the credit he deserves.
 
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McCaffrey and Burkhead are both getting a lot of good press. It seems the consensus is to feed the rock to these guys.

Speaking of Rex, is it any coincidence that as soon as he gets healthy Gillislee becomes a healthy scratch? Bill knows what he is doing.
 

Carolina Speed

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McCaffrey and Burkhead are both getting a lot of good press. It seems the consensus is to feed the rock to these guys.

Speaking of Rex, is it any coincidence that as soon as he gets healthy Gillislee becomes a healthy scratch? Bill knows what he is doing.
Yes, CM is getting good press, however, it hasn't translated on the field so far this evening. Looks like it's back to old way for the Panthers with Stewart getting the majority of the carries! ....and as long as Carolina is winning, it will not change!
 

PHillisFan

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Listen to this manlet ((((Max Kellerman))) at the 3;50 mark. He says C-MAC is wide out dressed as a receiver that you can't give 20 plus carries to.

 

booth

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McCaffrey didn't practice Wednesday because of a sore shoulder . They won't know how bad until sometime today.
 

Thrashen

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McCaffrey didn't practice Wednesday because of a sore shoulder . They won't know how bad until sometime today.

McCaffrey was seen practicing today and should play Sunday. Maybe the shoulder injury is why he was used do sparingly against the Jets in the 2nd half?
 
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CM is getting more and more comfortable in this offense. That 40 yard run he broke last week was impressive. He is starting to show his athleticism, and I see him having his first 100 yard rushing game within the next couple of weeks. Most likely on 10-12 carries.
 

Thrashen

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Through 14 games, McCaffrey's stats are as follows:

102 carries for 382 yards and 2 TD's.
73 catches for 592 yards and 5 TD's.

He only needs 26 more yards for 1,000 total (rushing/receiving) for the season. He looks better every game and team is inventing new ways to utilizing his skills. He almost attempted a pass against the Packers, but the receiver wasn't open and he instead decided to run the ball. Hopefully he can get at least one 100-yard rushing game before season's end...

 

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Over the last six games, Christian is averaging an impressive 5.0 yards per carry. He's also averaging 44 rushing yards per game, which if maintained over 16 games would be just over 700 yards. The line is run blocking better and he looks more confident running the ball now. I expect at least 1,800 total yards running and receiving next year, which would put him in elite company among the top backs in the league.
 
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My stepfather (great guy, total DWF) even caught on to McCaffrey. When he was ready for the draft and my pops' team (Diehard, lifelong Raiders fan from the bay area) was interested; He was saying he didn't want the Raiders to draft just some "white runningback".

I told him watch this kid, he's going to be special.

Well today, he texts me and goes: McCaffrey is a stud, but Cam is a cocky, glory hound who audibles all the time to keep it himself. He said CM would put up better numbers on another team; and he said when his contract is up he hopes the Raiders sign him, lol.
 

Carolina Speed

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My stepfather (great guy, total DWF) even caught on to McCaffrey. When he was ready for the draft and my pops' team (Diehard, lifelong Raiders fan from the bay area) was interested; He was saying he didn't want the Raiders to draft just some "white runningback".

I told him watch this kid, he's going to be special.

Well today, he texts me and goes: McCaffrey is a stud, but Cam is a cocky, glory hound who audibles all the time to keep it himself. He said CM would put up better numbers on another team; and he said when his contract is up he hopes the Raiders sign him, lol.

It's uncertain as to how Cam thinks or to understand his ability or lack there of. Yes, when he makes a big play, he celebrates as if he's the only one out there and that it's all about him. I haven't watched that much NFL after seeing that secular humanistic self worshipping commercial possibly portraying Russell Wilson as Jesus I saw a few weeks ago. The first few games I did watch, Cam would over throw CM and even on seemingly simple toss sweep plays, he would toss the ball behind CM making him turn backwards to make the catch and thus losing all of his forward momentum. Cam also regularly over throws all his receivers, so it's difficult to know if he just isn't that good or he's doing it on purpose. There's no doubt Cam seeks most of the glory.
Looking at the stats, it seems that the change may have taken place as to who is now the feature back. CM at least got more touches than Stewart yesterday, however Cam had 14 rushing attempts himself. If CM keeps playing well, Cam will be forced to share the offensive glory with CM, etc.
 

wile

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Scam has Olesen back that is the difference, this old man could hit 88 since he is nearly always standing there wide open.
 

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Was listening to a news radio report scores the other day. All of the games were reported as "Bills lost to Patriots, Browns continued their perfect losing streak, "etc. etc. The one exception was the Panthers game, the reporter read "Cam Newton's last minute heroics set up a field goal... blah, blah, blah." Always trying to single out a black player and remind, remind, remind. That's the tactic.

Won't matter, the Panthers are not going to win the SB not simply because of Newton's ego, but because he's a poor thrower, he's often off the mark, and is going to get picked like a fruit tree come crunch time.
 
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Thrashen

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McCaffrey finished his rookie season with 1,086 yards from scrimmage. His final stats:

Rushing: 117 carries for 435 yards and 2 TD's.
Receiving: 80 catches for 651 yards and 5 TD's.

With Jonathan Stewart injured and the Panthers in a "loser go home" Wildcard playoff game, I predict that McCaffrey will be "unleashed" and the Panthers will defeat the Saints.
 

Carolina Speed

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McCaffrey finished his rookie season with 1,086 yards from scrimmage. His final stats:

Rushing: 117 carries for 435 yards and 2 TD's.
Receiving: 80 catches for 651 yards and 5 TD's.

With Jonathan Stewart injured and the Panthers in a "loser go home" Wildcard playoff game, I predict that McCaffrey will be "unleashed" and the Panthers will defeat the Saints.

I like the positive attitude, but I just don't see it happening. With Stewart out Sunday, CM only carried the ball 6 times, 1.3 times below his season average! I said I wasn't going to watch anymore NFL, but I just had to look to see how Carolina used McCaffrey. To open the game, he carried the first two times for 11-12 yards and that was pretty much it for him. He did get 4 more carries. At one point third string RB Artis-Payne had more carries than CM, 5-4, then McCaffrey got two more at some point in the game. He did get a whopping 5 receptions, but two of those were at the end of the game when Atlanta was a playing a soft defense.
I mentioned recently as long as the Panthers are winning, nothing changes. Well, they lost Sunday, so maybe Thrashen will be correct and CM as a career game. I would love to see it!
 

Thrashen

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I like the positive attitude, but I just don't see it happening. With Stewart out Sunday, CM only carried the ball 6 times, 1.3 times below his season average! I said I wasn't going to watch anymore NFL, but I just had to look to see how Carolina used McCaffrey. To open the game, he carried the first two times for 11-12 yards and that was pretty much it for him. He did get 4 more carries. At one point third string RB Artis-Payne had more carries than CM, 5-4, then McCaffrey got two more at some point in the game. He did get a whopping 5 receptions, but two of those were at the end of the game when Atlanta was a playing a soft defense.
I mentioned recently as long as the Panthers are winning, nothing changes. Well, they lost Sunday, so maybe Thrashen will be correct and CM as a career game. I would love to see it!

This past Sunday, the Panthers had very little to play for against the Falcons. Since McCaffrey is still wearing a shoulder brace, I assume they didn’t want to get such an important player injured ahead of the Wildcard game. Artis-Payne was used in place of the injured Johnathan Stewart.

Since either Atlanta or Seattle were locked into the 6th seed, the Panthers were locked into playing either the Rams if they won or the Saints if they lost.
 

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Ok I was under the impression if they won they would win their division and get a home game but that is not correct right? So it was one of those "doesn't matter" games where they just wanted to get out alive.

This Carolina team makes me very nervous as does their slumbering coaching staff. But there is an old saying in card games where you "never show your hand." It makes you wonder if they have something "special" up there sleeves for the playoffs when it comes to CM and they are waiting to let it rip so to speak when the time is right? That thought has been brewing in my mind for a while now.

As for his usage this year it felt about right. Remember this is a player who wanted a home team that played on grass. His dad is involved and watching everything and believe me they want CM to excel for a long time rather than reach a quick peak and then flame out. The McCaffrey clan knows what they are doing. His dad was the same way as a player. In there for the long haul and it worked. He was an excellent player for many years. I remember him and he was a stud just like his son.

Below is a 1998 article on Ed which was the first of three straight 1,000 yard seasons. The apple doesn't fall to far off the tree as they say.

https://www.si.com/vault/1998/11/30...ecome-the-nfls-unlikeliest-star-wide-receiver
 
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dolphins15

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If the Panthers would have beat the Falcons they would have been division Champs. They needed the Saints to lose which they did.
 

Carolina Speed

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This past Sunday, the Panthers had very little to play for against the Falcons. Since McCaffrey is still wearing a shoulder brace, I assume they didn’t want to get such an important player injured ahead of the Wildcard game. Artis-Payne was used in place of the injured Johnathan Stewart.

Since either Atlanta or Seattle were locked into the 6th seed, the Panthers were locked into playing either the Rams if they won or the Saints if they lost.

If they didn't want to risk CM getting injured, then why was he still in the game catching passes over the middle during garbage time? Less than a minute to play? If they had very little to play for?
This is the way he has been used for most of the season. There wasn't any change for the most part Sunday. As I said, they lost and looked terrible. Maybe there will be a change. I certainly hope so!
 

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If they didn't want to risk CM getting injured, then why was he still in the game catching passes over the middle during garbage time? Less than a minute to play? If they had very little to play for?
This is the way he has been used for most of the season. There wasn't any change for the most part Sunday. As I said, they lost and looked terrible. Maybe there will be a change. I certainly hope so!

This is true about how the team has used CM all year. From the get go he was put through the grinder to try to plow through swarms up the middle and by Scam's poor throwing where's he's at risk of blindsided tackles.
 

Thrashen

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If the Panthers would have beat the Falcons they would have been division Champs. They needed the Saints to lose which they did.

True, but the Panthers likely thought the Saints would easily win their game against a Bucs team that had lost 5 straight. The Bucs scored 18 points in the 4th quarter, including a game-winning TD with 9 seconds remaining.

The Panthers were essentially playing for a home playoff game instead of a road game. I’m not sure if they were “scoreboard watching,” they were worried about McCaffrey re-injuring his shoulder and wanted to save him for the playoffs, they intentionally lost so they wouldn’t have to play the Rams, or their offense was just flat that day.

Regardless, CM got 1,000 yards from scrimmage and scored 7 TD’s. Naturally, we all want him to get every carry possible, but he’s not only a rookie, but a smaller back and given the horrendously-unfair treatment of white RB’s in the NFL, I’m happy that he was drafted in the top 10 and was given a primary role on a decent team.

McCaffrey led the team in catches and was second in receiving yards as a rookie.
 

jacknyc

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McCaffrey with a big play for a 52 yd touchdown today.
Someone said they were waiting for that all season. Me too.
I think it was his only really big play this season.
Maybe they'll let him loose a little more next season as a running back. They've barely used him as one this season.
Let's see.
But actually, I'd rather just see him traded somewhere else.
I don't think he'll ever get the chance to shine with Cam as QB.
 

Thrashen

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McCaffrey's 52-yard TD in the Wildcard Round against the Saints was his longest play of the season. During the regular season, his longest run was 37 yards and his longest catch was 40 yards. It was great to see the electrifying rookie finally have open space and none of the black Saints DB's could catch him. In the playoff game, he had 6 catches for 101 yards and 16 rushing yards in the contest...

 
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