You can call Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey a lot of things, perhaps even some things with negative connotations. Despite being one of the very few true game-changing presences at his position, his recent injury woes may have you calling the All-Pro rusher “unreliable,” “absent,” or “fragile.”
But can we really call him “overrated?”
Well, former defensive linemen Chris Canty thinks he can.
On Friday’s edition of “Get Up,” the retired 11-year veteran turned ESPN talking head rolled out his five most overrated players in the league. And in what can be described as an . . . um . . . interesting list, Canty places McCaffrey in at No. 2—just behind the most polarizing occupation in all of North American sports.
I chose violence today!
— Chris Canty (@ChrisCanty99) July 15, 2022
Violence, indeed!
“Everybody keeps talking about the Carolina Panthers and how they’re having this resurgence this year and Christian McCaffrey, if he stays healthy,” Canty exclaimed. “Well, Ryan [Clark], that’s a big ‘if.’ We’re talking about Saquon Barkley only playing in 15 games the last two years. This dude has only played in 10! He’s only played in 10 games!
“At some point, we gotta stop assigning health to this dude. I’m sorry, he’s a dynamic player when he’s on the field. But he’s not on the field nearly enough. Herm Edwards said it best—the best ability is availability and Christian McCaffrey’s not nearly available enough, could potentially force his coach Matt Rhule to get fired this year.”
Whoa, Chris. Don’t threaten Panthers fans with a good time now.
As Canty noted, McCaffrey has appeared in 10 of a possible 33 games since 2020. Those outings have resulted in 667 rushing yards and 492 receiving yards with eight total touchdowns.
But does bad luck really go hand in hand with being overrated? You tell us.
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