Why Christian McCaffrey Is College Football's Most Dangerous Player
STANFORD, CA -- As the regular season wines down and many teams prepare for either the off-season or postseason play, the tumultuous college football award nominations and ceremonies inch closer and closer. Last night marked the announcement of the Heisman trophy candidate finalists. The list included 3 of the best football players in the country in Derrick Henry (RB-Alabama), Deshaun Watson (QB-Clemson), and Christian McCaffrey (RB-Stanford). Though the first two names on the list are most recognizable amongst the viewers and fans of college football, the name that probably stands out the most within the eyes of the media is sophomore running back Christian McCaffrey of the Rose Bowl bound #6 Stanford Cardinal.
#5 Christian McCaffrey interviewing with the Pac-12 Network after the then #5 Stanford Cardinal (4-1) beat the Arizona Wildcats (3-2) 55-17.
Coming out of high school at 6'0 193lbs and a 4-star recruit by Rivals.com, Stanford head coach David Shaw shouldn't be surprised with what he and the rest of the country have seen from McCaffrey during the 2015 season. McCaffrey has gone full translation between his high school and college stats while raising his level of play all the way up to Heisman trophy candidacy. Through 12 regular season games and a conference championship game against USC, McCaffrey has compiled a total of 1,847 rushing yards on 319 attempts, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. McCaffrey's total rushing yards on the season trail only Derrick Henry of the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide, who has amassed 1,986 yards this season on 339 carries. A difference of only 139 yards separate the 2 Heisman candidates, but the strange thing is even though McCaffrey doesn't quite match Henry's rushing stats, he makes up for it in both receiving and passing (yes, passing) yards. This is what makes McCaffrey so dangerous. In between his gaudy rushing numbers, McCaffrey has 540 receiving yards, with 13.2 yards per catch on average with 41 receptions and 4 touchdowns...yeah. McCaffrey's average yards per catch (13.2) match Texas A&M's all-everything receiver Christian Kirk who is considered by many to be one of the best receivers in the country.
McCaffrey finds #8 quarterback Kevin Hogan in the end zone with a gorgeous touchdown pass in the 2015 Pac-12 Championship game vs #20 USC. (via SBNation)
On top of McCaffrey's insane rushing and passing stats combination, he can also throw the ball. McCaffrey is the holder of a QBR rating of 395.9 which includes 2 touchdown passes on 13 yards per attempt. On the big stage versus the then #20 USC Trojans, McCaffrey was pitched the ball on a fake end-around play then slowed up at the line of scrimmaged and rifled the ball back to quarterback Kevin Hogan in the end zone for a touchdown giving the Cardinal a commanding lead. One would think after a performance like that, opposing coaches would start to tell their defense to beware of # 5 - Stanford's run-first, pass second running back. Performances on the big stages by any individual should never go unoticed by the fans or the media, but for some odd reason Christian McCaffrey seems like a low key Heisman winner amongst Derrick Henry and Deshaun Watson. The Heisman trophy is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Not to mention McCaffrey left high school with a 3.5 GPA and attends one of the top universities in the world at Stanford. During the Pac-12 championship McCaffrey also broke 1988 Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders' NCAA single-season record for all-purpose yardage (3,250 yards) in the second quarter. That's right, McCaffrey is a special teams performer too, totaling 1,133 yards on kick and punt returns for the Cardinal this year. Seeing a pattern here? McCaffrey is as well-rounded and Heisman-esque as it gets.
Awards and honors usually come along with record-setting stats and big plays, and McCaffrey has received a few well deserved dues already. Along with the Heisman Trophy, he is also currently a finalist for the Maxwell Award and surprisingly only a semi-finalist for the Doak Walker Award. If the Heisman Trophy is truly something that is awarded to the best all around player in college football then Christian Mcaffrey should receive its honors as he is a lethal performer pretty much every phase of the game with his dominance in running, passing, receiving and special teams.
