Some insight into McCaffrey...

[Mr. Scot]

...from two articles by Joe Person in The Athletic.

First up, from around the time of McCaffrey's extension, a behind the scenes look at the Panthers decision making process that led to drafting McCaffrey

Drafting Christian McCaffrey: Mixed opinions, size concerns, Leonard Fournette

Highlights...

Jerry Richardson was a huge fan of McCaffrey but not everyone was convinced. As you might expect, the primary questions were about his size and durability, and there was enough debate that some within the staff went into draft night very uncertain who the pick would be.

The team did look at other players like Jamal Adams, Marshon Lattimore, as well as tight end O.J. Howard but they were focused mostly on the top runningbacks. Among those, Dalvin Cook made the team nervous because of off the field issues while Alvin Kamara was viewed as a later round value pick.

Part of the concern was that, in the words of former Panthers scout Khary Darlington, Cam Newton was "getting the dog crap beat out of him". Thus, they needed someone that would keep opposing defenses from focusing on Newton alone.

Darlington, for his part, preferred Fournette (whom he referred to as "a grown man") but also saw the appeal of McCaffrey's skills. Then scout Jeff Beathard was also on the Fournette train. And while GM Dave Gettleman was a fan of big guys like Fournette, he still wanted to do due diligence to ensure the team made the right choice. On the flipside, Ron Rivera and Mike Shula were very high on McCaffrey.

The hiring of Lance Taylor as receiver coach really did a lot to sway things toward McCaffrey. Taylor was both a great source of information about McCaffrey and also a big advocate for him. After much discussion, Rivera, Shula and Taylor set themselves to the task of convincing Gettleman that McCaffrey was the guy.

By the time Draft Day rolled around, then head of college scouting Don Gregory knew that both Rivera and team owner Jerry Richardson were
100 percent behind McCaffrey" but felt Dave Gettleman still wanted to "go through the process and we weren’t missing anything". Gregory felt Fournette was still officially an option, but that was just "window dressing". In reality, the decision had been made.

Of course, the Jaguars made the decision for them, and the rest is history.

...

Fast forward to today, and Person critiques what he calls the "emotional decisions" surrounding McCaffrey and their effect on  the team.

Panthers went with their emotions with Christian McCaffrey and now they’re paying the price

Excerpts:

About the time Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey was headed into the training room Sunday at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium after a blowout loss to the Dolphins, Tampa Bay’s Leonard Fournette was delivering the game-winning score at Indianapolis with his fourth touchdown of the day.

The two backs have been connected since the 2017 NFL Draft when Fournette went to Jacksonville with the fourth overall pick, four spots ahead of where the Panthers took McCaffrey. The Panthers were looking for a back who could take some of the wear and tear off quarterback Cam Newton, who’d been battered and beaten throughout the post-MVP and post-Super Bowl season of 2016.

Most thought McCaffrey was a better fit for the Panthers, but there were questions about his durability.

...

It’s McCaffrey’s fifth different injury since the Panthers made him the highest-paid back in NFL history with a four-year, $64 million extension in April of 2020. Including the remaining five games he’ll miss this year, McCaffrey will have been sidelined for 23 of 33 games since signing his mega-deal.

McCaffrey, who’s listed at 5-11 and 205 pounds, has put in hundreds, if not thousands of hours, building up his body over the past five seasons. But weights and speed work only go so far, and it turns out the concerns Darlington and others had about McCaffrey’s durability were justified.

...

The fact that none of those injuries is related would seem to bolster the argument that McCaffrey can’t stay healthy. Since McCaffrey returned from his hamstring injury, the Panthers have been careful to limit his reps.

And his most recent ankle issue wasn’t an overuse injury: Sources said McCaffrey was hurt when a lineman fell on his ankle.

...

And so here we are again, with the 25-year-old McCaffrey facing a lengthy recovery and Rhule trying to win games without his best offensive player. Meanwhile, fans and media members look to assign blame for the Panthers’ decision to pay a running back, one that flew in the face of the analytics that became more prevalent within the organization after David Tepper bought the team in 2018.

Tepper, then-GM Marty Hurney and Rhule were the decision-makers in the spring of 2020. The Panthers had just gone undergone a massive roster turnover that included Luke Kuechly’s surprising retirement announcement and the release of Newton and Greg Olsen.

They needed someone to build their offense and marketing campaigns around, although the latter lost some of its importance when teams played in empty stadiums during the COVID-impacted 2020 seasons. Simply put, the Panthers made the kind of emotional decision that Hurney said he would avoid during his second stint as GM.

...

The real money in McCaffrey’s contract doesn’t kick in until next year when he’ll carry a $14.3 million salary-cap charge. His cap numbers in the following years are $17.7 million in 2023 and ’24, and $13.6 million in ’25, when McCaffrey will be 29.

Who knows if McCaffrey or Rhule will still be around by then. A team source said the Panthers have no plans to trade McCaffrey. And honestly, it’s hard to imagine there would be many teams interested in taking on McCaffrey’s injury history and salary numbers.

...

In the meantime, McCaffrey will likely keep a low profile while beginning the lonely, rehab process again. Rhule has said no player works harder than McCaffrey trying to get his body ready for the grind of an NFL season.

And while there’s no reason to doubt it, McCaffrey’s body keeps betraying him just the same.

[mrcompletely11]

We're fuged

[PantherBoy95]

5 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

We're fuged

this in depth analysis after reading that very insightful article actually made me laugh out loud

[Richard Cranium 1]

[Panthercougar68]

I fully believe that Christian is over training. We saw it before with Beason.

[CRA]

I'm not a fan of drafting RB in the first round.  

The only thing I hate more than drafting RBs in the first round is extending a RB having one of the highest paid RBs in the league. 

We did this dance with Double Trouble.  You don't build NFL teams with RBs anymore.  Yet we did it again.  

Who ran the ball down our throats for Washington? A converted WR.  You get an OL.  You can find a RB. 

[frankw]

Fournette was the logical choice as a punishing runner paired with Cam at the time. I don't blame Leonard for failing with the Jaguars who wouldn't? The one thing you can count on with this franchise is more often than not they will make the wrong choice. Cam Newton over a defensive tackle being one of the lone exceptions over the years and if some folks here had their way it wouldn't have happened.

[Major wRecktum]

Should have been keeping him from being around 300 lb linemen for the last couple of years.

Edited November 30, 2021 by Major wRecktum
Delete word

[Mr. Scot]

Pertinent quote from above for those advocating that we trade him...

A team source said the Panthers have no plans to trade McCaffrey. And honestly, it’s hard to imagine there would be many teams interested in taking on McCaffrey’s injury history and salary numbers.

Granted it could happen, but that second sentence is a valid point.

[Waldo]

A billion dollar team and we keep employing a pack of fugging idiots. Yay. It's like watching drunk toddlers playing chicken with semi-trucks full of gold. I think if we all knew more about what goes on in real time, we would have walked away years ago. 

I like CMC but his time as a RB is over. Dude has enough skills to transition into another roll possibly. If not, it's just the Panthers wasting more talent.

 

[The Natural]

Gettleman and Hurney have to be two of the sorriest GM's of all time.

[Mr. Scot]

2 minutes ago, frankw said:

Fournette was the logical choice as a punishing runner paired with Cam at the time. I don't blame Leonard for failing with the Jaguars who wouldn't? The one thing you can count on with this franchise is more often than not they will make the wrong choice.

McCaffrey and Fournette's first few seasons made it look like absolutely the right choice.

Following the extension and Fournette's team switch though? Things have changed a bit.

 

[Captroop]

Between Cam, Luke, and CMC, it's hard to believe we squandered an opportunity to win a championship with that many generational talents on the roster at the same time.

[ThPantherFan]

Thanks Mr. Scott.  Great read.  We paid too much and now we're paying for it.