McCaffrey trade that worked for Niners

SANTA CLARA — This is the trade that worked. This is the trade that might get the 49ers to the Super Bowl. This is the trade that brought them Christian McCaffrey. 

All spring we kept being reminded about the bad deal that brought quarterback Trey Lance, who turned out not to be the man the Niners hoped he would be.

Well, McCaffrey, the Stanford guy (as is his dad), is exactly what the 49ers hoped he would be. And more.  

So, let’s hear about the good deal — the great deal — the one that brought them the marvelous runner and receiver. And what a game he had Sunday, picking up yards, picking up records and helping San Francisco pick up another win, this one 35-16 over the Arizona Cardinals. 

McCaffrey scored four touchdowns, with three of those coming in the first half. In the process, McCaffrey extended his team streak of games scoring a touchdown to 13, one more than the record of 12 set by Jerry Rice in 1987.

It was a year ago, October 2022, when Niners coach Kyle Shanahan was able to acquire the running back he knew the Niners needed to balance their defense.

And that McCaffrey, looking to expand his horizons and his performance, sought a change.

He mentioned, while still with the Carolina Panthers, the team that drafted him, that he would like to play with the Big City Guys as if there was much difference between where an NFL franchise is located. It’s the people who run the team and play for the team who count.

Small town or Gotham, you want great players and winners. McCaffrey, who rushed 20 times for 106 yards and caught seven passes for 71 yards, unquestionably is one of those.

“It’s a normal thing for him to score a touchdown in 13 consecutive games,”  said Kyle Juszczyk, the Niners fullback who blocks for McCaffrey. “That’s insane. It’s just come to be expected. He executes everything so well.”

Juszczyk is a prime blocker for McCaffrey, and as you know a Harvard grad. Maybe he’s the only one who would use “insane” in a football context.  

What McCaffrey said about what certainly was a historic afternoon at Levi’s Stadium was very little. He preferred to talk about teammates, especially quarterback Brock Purdy. 

“I think you can go down the list of what makes a quarterback good and he checks every box. Then he has all the intangibles that would be phenomenal. He brings a kind of swagger and energy every day that is fun to be around.  He’s quiet but very confident and he expresses that in the way he plays. It’s just awesome to have him in the huddle.”

The same is true for McCaffrey, out of the huddle and into the end zone.