Even as his position is becoming devalued over time, the Carolina Panthers are extraordinarily lucky to have Christian McCaffrey on their roster – an obscenely talented playmaker at such a young age.
In fact, the numbers say that McCaffrey is one of the most valuable players in the league. Cynthia Frelund at NFL.com has put together an All Analytics team, comprised of players who offer production where it matters most based on Next Gen Stats. In McCaffrey’s case, that means getting the job done on first down. Derrick Henry is her starting running back, but McCaffrey made the cut as the flex player.
“On first down specifically, his 1,262 scrimmage yards were the most for any player by almost 200 (in second was Derrick Henry at 1,098), and he chipped in nine total first-down touchdowns. First-down production and middle-of-the-field work are strongly correlated with drive success (that is, compiling first downs and touchdowns). NGS shows that McCaffrey averaged 5.0 yards per rush inside the tackles (second in the NFL among those with a minimum of 75 inside runs).”
That’s good stuff.
McCaffrey turns 24 years old today.
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