Christian McCaffrey Trade Was Five-Plus Year Plan, Shanahan Joked

He was asked about passing on McCaffrey early in the 2017 NFL draft.

Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey was on the board when the 49ers were on the clock with the No. 3 pick of the 2017 NFL draft. The team opted to take his Cardinal teammate, defensive end Solomon Thomas, instead. That was all part of the plan, coach Kyle Shanahan said he joked to McCaffrey when the two met for the first time on Friday, after the team’s monumental trade for the star running back late Thursday night.

“I told Christian this was our plan all along,” Shanahan joked Friday, when asked about passing on McCaffrey in 2017, per The Athletic‘s David Lombardi. “We wanted to build a D-line first and then add him five and a half years later.”

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The quote is definitely a bit facetious, but Shanahan’s club has done a nice job building up front first, taking Nick Bosa and Javon Kinlaw along the defensive line in the first round since 2017. While Thomas didn’t work out, Bosa has emerged as a superstar off the edge for San Francisco.

Meanwhile, the running game hasn’t been a major concern. Like his father, longtime Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, Kyle has gotten incredible production from the running game no matter who is lined up in the backfield. He hasn’t had a player like McCaffrey to work with though, and San Francisco hopes the bold trade, which cost the franchise some serious draft capital, will pay serious fruition down the stretch in 2022.

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