McCaffrey's team really earned their money In this draft.
Going into the process, Christian was a borderline first-rounder who easily could have fallen into the mid second-round without anyone batting an eye. The difference between that and where he wound up (approximately a $17.3 Million contract over four years) is $12+ million dollars. After taxes that's the difference between having instant retirement $ and having a nice nest egg but still having to go work for a living if football didn't work out. By comparison, Toby Gerhart earned $11 Million over his whole career and Stepfan Taylor has earned just $2.5 Million, with no guarantee that he's going to get another contract.
Obviously Christian deserves some substantial credit as well. He performed very well in the combine and obviously did well in the interviews and background checks as well (this is why Dalvin Cook is still on the board-- and should be). I'm sure as coaches really reviewed his tape carefully that also helped his case.
But I think the way that he was marketed by his "team" was enormously important and had a lot to do with how an undersized white RB with average speed (not exactly a profile that screams elite pick) was able to rise so high in the draft.
McCaffrey has very average speed for an NFL tailback--his 4.48 looks good on paper but at 202 LBs his "speed score" is very average for an NFL RB (by comparison Gerhart ran a 4.53 at 231 LBS which is much more impressive) He did show outstanding change-of-direction skills (2nd fastest 3 cone in more than a decade) and I think that helped that this was reflected on his game tape.
But the fact that his team only had him do WR and return drills at Stanford's Pro Day was a work of genius. Christian is obviously an extraordinary receiver and route runner-- and by forcing teams to think of him less as a tailback and more as a multi-faceted offensive weapon made teams start thinking-- "Hey maybe if this guy doesn't work out as a RB he can be a great slot receiver"-- that gives him a lot less downside risk and more career longevity than the average RB and it gave teams mental models of success like Wes Welker that they could associate Christian with. And others began to see him more as someone who could line up all over the field and less as "just" a running back.
And that's why Christian was able to go so high tonight. Teams stopped thinking of him as a pure RB and more as a playmaker who can help a team in a variety of ways.
Though I loved watching Christian at Stanford, I am not personally convinced that Christian is an elite NFL RB as a ballcarrier-- but I do think he has the skills to be an elite NFL *football player*. And it was because his team marketed him so aggressively as a football player-- and not just a runner-- that he did so well in the draft process.
Going into the process, Christian was a borderline first-rounder who easily could have fallen into the mid second-round without anyone batting an eye. The difference between that and where he wound up (approximately a $17.3 Million contract over four years) is $12+ million dollars. After taxes that's the difference between having instant retirement $ and having a nice nest egg but still having to go work for a living if football didn't work out. By comparison, Toby Gerhart earned $11 Million over his whole career and Stepfan Taylor has earned just $2.5 Million, with no guarantee that he's going to get another contract.
Obviously Christian deserves some substantial credit as well. He performed very well in the combine and obviously did well in the interviews and background checks as well (this is why Dalvin Cook is still on the board-- and should be). I'm sure as coaches really reviewed his tape carefully that also helped his case.
But I think the way that he was marketed by his "team" was enormously important and had a lot to do with how an undersized white RB with average speed (not exactly a profile that screams elite pick) was able to rise so high in the draft.
McCaffrey has very average speed for an NFL tailback--his 4.48 looks good on paper but at 202 LBs his "speed score" is very average for an NFL RB (by comparison Gerhart ran a 4.53 at 231 LBS which is much more impressive) He did show outstanding change-of-direction skills (2nd fastest 3 cone in more than a decade) and I think that helped that this was reflected on his game tape.
But the fact that his team only had him do WR and return drills at Stanford's Pro Day was a work of genius. Christian is obviously an extraordinary receiver and route runner-- and by forcing teams to think of him less as a tailback and more as a multi-faceted offensive weapon made teams start thinking-- "Hey maybe if this guy doesn't work out as a RB he can be a great slot receiver"-- that gives him a lot less downside risk and more career longevity than the average RB and it gave teams mental models of success like Wes Welker that they could associate Christian with. And others began to see him more as someone who could line up all over the field and less as "just" a running back.
And that's why Christian was able to go so high tonight. Teams stopped thinking of him as a pure RB and more as a playmaker who can help a team in a variety of ways.
Though I loved watching Christian at Stanford, I am not personally convinced that Christian is an elite NFL RB as a ballcarrier-- but I do think he has the skills to be an elite NFL *football player*. And it was because his team marketed him so aggressively as a football player-- and not just a runner-- that he did so well in the draft process.
