Panthers Don't Plan to 'Ease in' Christian McCaffrey
It's a new year and a fresh start for Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey who is looking to bounce back after missing 13 games a year ago due to injury.
A lot has been made about the star running back's potential in this Joe Brady offense and we were able to see a small glimpse of that in the three games he was able to play in by rushing for 225 yards and a combined six touchdowns. Carolina had a solid replacement with Mike Davis and no disrespect to Davis but there are just some things that McCaffrey can do that can't be replicated.
"I just think last year there were limitations on what you could and could not do with or without Christian McCaffrey. Just the reality of the time you had to rep with each other and whatnot. There were certain elements that Christian can obviously do that there's not a lot of football players can do," offensive coordinator Joe Brady said. "We took a step back this offseason and figured out who we want to be identity-wise, what we did well, what we didn't do well. I'm excited for this Sunday to be able to display that."
Two years ago, the last full season that McCaffrey played, he became the third player in NFL history to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in both rushing and receiving, joining Marshall Faulk and Roger Craig. Brady spoke on what makes McCaffrey so special and how he makes his life as a play-caller much easier.
"There's not many players in the NFL that on any given moment that they touch the football there's an opportunity that they could score a touchdown. Christian is a guy that you can throw it behind the line of scrimmage and he can take it 80. That makes life easier as a play-caller. He's very dynamic with the ball in his hands, he's a great runner first and foremost but he can make plays out of the backfield, and he can protect. He's a complete running back. He makes bad play calls look good and I've seen that first hand."
The only concern heading into the season is that McCaffrey hasn't played much in the preseason and some folks are worried about how his body will respond to hit after hit. Head coach Matt Rhule is confident that he will be ready to go and they will not ease him into the game. He will have the full workload we are accustomed to seeing from McCaffrey.
"We were cautious with him in the preseason because he's going to take so many hits. Now, we hit him in practice and thud him in practice because he needs some contact. But I think Christian is full speed and ready to go mentally, physically, in every way. We're going to put him out there and play him."
On Wednesday, McCaffrey met with the media to discuss the season opener and all of the eagerness that has been building up inside him.
"The excitement is real. It's been a long time. I think we're all ready to just go out there and start playing," McCaffrey said. "It's always the first hit of the game that kind of gets you going a little bit but we practice really physical and we had two joint practices and had a lot of contact in those."
Rookie Chuba Hubbard and recently acquired Royce Freeman will be able to spell McCaffrey when needed but you can expect the overwhelming majority of the carries going to No. 22.
The Panthers and Jets kick off the season this Sunday at 1 p.m. EST on CBS.
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