In a glowing piece by Bill Voth, Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk says that he sees a player even better than himself in Christian McCaffrey and his performance in his first three seasons. Just looking at the statistics you can quickly see McCaffrey clearly has the better numbers after three seasons (5,443 to 4,372 yards). Yet Faulk looks beyond the numbers and finds additional evidence to bolster his argument:
“He had to do more with less help. I had a lot of help,” said Faulk, who in 1999 was part of a Rams offense that was called “The Greatest Show on Turf.”
”And how many quarterbacks did (McCaffrey) have?” asked Faulk.
That is a very good point. I’m betting Faulk had a better offensive line in front of him in additional to exceptional quarterback play. So I think any improvement in the offense this offseason would enable McCaffrey to match if not exceed his 2019 performance. No problem right? Well Faulk reminds us that it would actually be a big deal:
“As many times as he can, man. That’s what this game is about,” Faulk said. “Trust me, it’s hard. It is a hard feat. Just think about it — in the whole history of the league, only three guys — think about the guys that are playing running back in this league. Only three guys have done it. It’s such a big deal that they don’t pay a whole lot of attention to it because it’s like, ‘Nobody does that.’ It’s such a big deal.”
So it’s plain to see McCaffrey is an elite talent whose career arc should land him in the Hall of Fame some day. So what makes McCaffrey a better player than Marshall Faulk? Rather than tell you, I would prefer to show you.
Perhaps McCaffrey has better hands
I call this play ‘the catch-n-slide’:
I doubt Faulk had to make catches like this with Kurt Warner as his quarterback. While the catch and slide for a first down was fun to watch, this play was won by McCaffrey when he made his break to the right. C-Mac jukes two defenders to break away fro what should have been an easy catch. Such was the Carolina Panthers offense in 2019.
McCaffrey’s biggest runs were between the tackles
Like Faulk, McCaffrey can cut on a dime, yet McCaffrey’s biggest plays running the ball were right up the middle rather than on the edge, something Faulk was known for.
Hat tip to a well blocked play by the offensive line on the above 80-yard touchdown run right up the gut.
McCaffrey has a little more shake-n-bake
Marshall Faulk certainly had the ability to fake out would be tacklers but McCaffrey is the epitome of the phrase ‘breaking ankles’. Defenders on the outside come into the game knowing the plan is to contain McCaffrey and that his is ‘slippery’. But we aren’t talking about breaking tackles here. It is total whiffs when trying to tackle C-Mac in the open field. Only the best tacklers in the league can bring him down one-on-one.
Here’s another ankle breaker for your pleasure.
The last thing I will add is McCaffrey is a tougher runner than Faulk; he’s harder to bring down. Faulk wasn’t really known for toughness. He had a decent stiff arm, but his game was built on being elusive through vision, speed and quickness. Please don’t think i’m dissing Faulk at all because I agree he was one of the best of all time. I just want to savor our newest star for seasons to come. For that I am thankful, given Carolina looks to be starting a rebuild. It’s very obvious who will be the centerpiece of the Panthers offense going forward.