Scouting Christian McCaffrey’s preseason debut with Panthers

The Carolina Panthers debuted on Wednesday night and rookie running back Christian McCaffrey got an opportunity to show what he’s got…

Wednesday night was our first opportunity to see what Christian McCaffrey’s got in a professional game, even if it wasn’t the regular season.

The Carolina Panthers took on the Houston Texans and McCaffrey got the ball a total of seven times, all on carries.

The former Stanford star’s debut has been eagerly anticipated, especially after some of the moves he’s been putting on at Carolina Panthers training camp. One video circulating right now has McCaffrey putting All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechly on skates.

We didn’t see any of that in his preseason debut, but McCaffrey showed why he’s going to be a versatile threat at the next level.

Here’s a breakdown of each play, and what we’re seeing on them.

Play 1: HB-Right (shotgun), Inside run
Play 2: HB-Right (shotgun), counter, inside, big run and yards after contact
Play 3: Deep HB (QB under center), outside run, nice burst to the perimeter. Big chunk gain.
Play 4: HB (Pistol), inside run, nowhere to go. Positive gain.
Play 5: HB-Left (shotgun), run designed inside, nothing there so bounced outside. Not much there either, short gain
Play 6: Deep HB (QB under center) zone stretch run, nice gain
Play 7: Deep HB (QB under center, FB-L), run goes misdirection of blocking, nice gain again. Good vision, slips through arm tackle & dives forward

There was nothing spectacular about McCaffrey’s debut, but his second run of the game was particularly nice. He ran a perfect counter, and showed off his ability to make some yards after contact.

One of the biggest concerns with McCaffrey from some has been his ability to run between the tackles, the Panthers are obviously working with him on that.

What I would hope to see in games moving forward is McCaffrey’s ability to contribute as a receiver and even potentially a returner. This was just one game’s worth of touches, and one preseason game at that, so I’m not trying to be too picky. Those are just things McCaffrey does really well, and it’s a way he can and likely will contribute heavily in his rookie season.

This is a versatile threat out of the backfield, in the slot, and on special teams. We got to see basically a really bare bones version of what the Panthers intend to do with McCaffrey here.

He showed off his ability to move laterally and very smoothly at that, but ultimately, he had 33 yards on seven carries, and 12 of them came on one run. There was nothing about McCaffrey’s debut that was earth shattering, but he did show off his vision, a little bit of his ability to pick up yards after contact, and we’ll see his role continue to expand as the preseason progresses.