Christian McCaffrey is one of the best, most versatile running backs in the NFL. The Los Angeles Rams are well aware of that, having attempted to trade for him last week before the San Francisco 49ers topped them with a better deal of their own.
Rather than McCaffrey suiting up for the Rams this week against the 49ers, they’re preparing to face him for the second time in as many games. That’s not easy to do, especially now that he’s in Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
Aaron Donald said flat-out that McCaffrey is a headache to game plan for.
“Obviously, he’s a good piece for them. He’s a headache to try to game plan for with all the pieces they already got, but you kind of know what to expect and try to do what you can and pick guys and put us in certain positions to try and eliminate certain people,” he said Thursday.
Against the Rams in Week 6, McCaffrey rushed for 69 yards on 13 attempts and caught seven passes for 89 yards, doing what he often does as a dual-threat running back. The Rams missed five tackles against him in that game, which is something that can’t happen again this week.
Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris also discussed McCaffrey’s talent and skill set, breaking down all the things he can do.
“Will he bring some different wrinkles? There’s no doubt. Do I expect him to be spread out and get some of those tunnel screens that Deebo (Samuel) got? No question. Do I expect him to be out there to be able to run some choice routes and give an additional choice runs? You can’t have enough choice runners in that offense,” Morris said. “I’m expecting him to be able to do some of those things. This guy can run lookies, this guy can run the football, he can go downhill, he can run the A-Gap, he can run the gap schemes, he can run the outside zone. I’m expecting them to get him caught up more and more each week that he’s there and get him more touches each week he’s there. That just adds another dynamic player to their offense.”
McCaffrey played just 29% of the snaps against the Chiefs last week in his 49ers debut, but that was just days after he was traded. He figures to play significantly more against the Rams now that he’s had more than a week to learn the playbook and offense.
