The Trade That Shifted the Shanahan Era
How Christian McCaffrey changed the 49ers from a team on the doorstep into the team to beat
In 2022, the San Francisco 49ers sat at a record of 3-3, with losses to the Broncos and Bears. The offense struggled and only scored ten points in both contests. The 49ers needed a spark to a team that was coming off of the NFC Championship game the year prior. Right before the deadline they made the biggest move of the Shanahan era and traded multiple draft picks for All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey.
While the media was questioning why a 3-3 football team was giving up that type of capital for an oft-injured back, the move proved to be the turning point of the season. While the 49ers played musical chairs at quarterback due to injury, the team rattled off 10 wins in their 11 games remaining. They carried this over to the post-season where they stormed to the NFC Championship game. The 49ers proceeded to make a Super Bowl run in the following season and have a record of 34-14 when McCaffrey suits up.
He’ll face off against his former team for the first time this Sunday.
McCaffrey was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in 2017 with the 8th overall pick. He recorded two 1,000-yard rushing seasons, including a season where he added another 1,000 yards receiving. He joined Roger Craig and Marshall Faulk as the only two players in NFL history to reach the 1000/1000 feat. He dealt with a multitude of injuries, and the Panthers were a rebuilding team looking to get as many swings as they could get in the draft with the team firing their coach mid season of 2022.
McCaffrey on “The Kittle Things,” discussed how he thought he was going to get traded to Los Angeles. A driving force behind this may have been the Shanahan/McCaffrey connection. Kyle Shanahan’s dad, Mike, was the offensive coordinator and head coach for McCaffrey’s dad, Ed. Kyle was very close to his dad’s teams in San Francisco and Denver which meant he spent a lot of time around Ed growing up. The families were so close that Kyle and his sister actually baby-sat Christian growing up.
This week may seem like any other game for the San Francisco 49ers, but this game may be more for CMC. He currently leads the league in touches with 267, 48 more than any other player in the league. He also is the NFL’s 9th-leading receiver and is on pace for another 1000/1000 season, looking to become the first player in NFL history to do this twice.
This game has plenty of playoff implications as well as personal. The 49ers are in the midst of a heated NFC wildcard race and the Panthers are in the same boat. The 49ers look to get their first back-to-back win since Weeks 1 and 2 as they look to position themselves firmly within the NFC playoff picture. McCaffrey looks to keep up his historic pace against his former team. With such a big game for both teams upcoming, there is no doubt the 49ers are ecstatic CMC will be on their side this time around.