At this point, it might be easier to stop calling Christian McCaffrey a running back and start calling him a “quarterback.” San Francisco 49ers star is causing defensive coordinators to lose sleep and maybe even question their career choices. In Week 6, McCaffrey put on a football clinic again, recording seven receptions, 111 scrimmage yards and a rushing touchdown because apparently it's just another Sunday for him.
Through six games, McCaffrey already has 46 receptions, tying him with 2014's Matt Forte and 2020's Alvin Kamara for the most catches by a running back in the first six games of a season in NFL history. Somewhere, Forte and Kamara probably took off their caps and said, “Yeah, this guy is something else.”
McCaffrey also joined a club so exclusive he could use a velvet rope. He is the fifth running back to ever record at least five receptions in his team's first six games of the season, joining Forte, Darren Sproles, Priest Holmes and Larry Centers. This is not just impressive, it is a historical event. But McCaffrey wasn't done there. He is now the first running back in NFL history to have at least 50 receiving yards in each of his team's first six games. Think about it. The defenders know the ball is coming his way, but they still can't stop it. It's like trying to catch smoke.
To make the numbers even wilder, McCaffrey joined Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk as the only players with at least 50 rushing yards and 50 receiving yards in five of his team's first six games of the season. He's also tied with Keith Byars for fourth most career games with at least 50 receiving yards by a running back in the Super Bowl era with 46. Only Larry Centers, Faulk and Ronnie Harmon have more, which speaks to how rare his combination of running and receiving dominance truly is.
McCaffrey isn't just a dual threat; he's a double nightmare. Whether catching passes like a wide receiver or making tackles like a video game cheat code, he redefines what a running back can be. And right now he's doing it at a level that even the history books are unlikely to catch up with.
