The Cover of Madden NFL 25 Will Feature 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey
What an honor.
49ers running back Christian McCaffrey has been named the cover athlete for Madden NFL 25. He's the first 49ers player who's ever been on the cover and he's the third running back along with Adrian Peterson and Barry Sanders to be featured on the front of the game.
McCaffrey is coming off an incredible season in which he was named the Offensive Player of the Year and finished third in the MVP voting behind Lamar Jackson and Dak Prescott. He is universally regarded as the best running back in the NFL because he's such a weapon both as a ball carrier and a receiver. In the playoffs, he led the 49ers in both carries and catches. Despite all the weapons the 49ers have, their entire offense goes through McCaffrey.
Still, I think Madden picked the wrong 49ers player for their cover.
Brock Purdy should be the cover athlete. He would sell more games than McCaffrey. And Purdy is just as deserving if not more. Purdy finished fourth in the MVP voting and was the highest-rated quarterback in the NFL. And when the 49ers reached the Super Bowl and lost once again, Purdy was much better than McCaffrey.
The 49ers gave McCaffrey every opportunity to win the Super Bowl for them -- he touched the ball a whopping 30 times. And he averaged just 3.5 yards per carry, fumbled once and scored one touchdown. He couldn't carry the 49ers past the finish line. As opposed to Terrell Davis, who carried Mike Shanahan, John Elway, Ed McCaffrey and the rest of the Broncos to a Super Bowl championship in 1998 when he rushed for 5.2 yards per carry and 3 touchdowns against the Packers.
Davis is a Hall of Fame running back. McCaffrey is not. He's a very good running back who missed his opportunity to be an all-time great.