Carolina Panthers: Christian McCaffrey showing shades of Stanford days

Carolina Panthers jack-of-all-trades Christian McCaffrey is looking a lot like the Christian McCaffrey from his Stanford Cardinal days.

In his time at Stanford, Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey made running around defensive players look easy.

He made it look so easy over the course of his three seasons as their featured weapon, in fact, that the Carolina Panthers decided to take him with their top pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, even though he wasn’t the ‘Adrian Peterson’ type of bell cow running back that typically gets picked in the top 10 of the NFL Draft.

McCaffrey earned a reputation as a jack-of-all-trades at Stanford. Many (wrongfully) assumed that because McCaffrey was so good at so many different things in college that he wouldn’t be able to hold up as a featured back in the NFL.

The Carolina Panthers are proving those doubters wrong, and McCaffrey has joined a new breed of running back in the NFL, even paving the way in some respects, as a player who can be elite in a couple of different ways.

Just like at Stanford, there’s really nothing anyone playing against McCaffrey in the NFL can do about it.

Statistically, McCaffrey is coming off of perhaps his best game as a pro this past weekend against the Seahawks. He touched the ball 28 times (17 rushes, 11 receptions) and racked up 237 total yards from scrimmage with two touchdowns.

The guy has become an unstoppable force.

No matter where the Panthers line him up, McCaffrey is a threat to make a huge play. Some pundits felt coming out of college he might be best suited as a slot receiver — not a running back — going forward. He’s proven he can be a very good slot receiver in addition to being an elite running back.

McCaffrey not only has excellent hands and route running abilities, he’s got great vision as a runner and elite quickness and breakaway speed.

The Panthers are using McCaffrey more than any other back is getting used in the NFL. He’s played a whopping 97 percent of their offensive snaps so far this season, and rightfully so. He has been so effective over the course of each Panthers game, in fact, that the team cut free agent signing C.J. Anderson, admitting they felt they had a bigger role in place for him before McCaffrey proved irreplaceable on the field.

By the way, he became the first Panthers running back ever on Sunday to rush for over 100 yards and also rack up 100 receiving yards in the same game.

This young weapon is exactly as advertised coming out of college. He may not be a grinder like Zeke Elliott or Todd Gurley, but he’s proven why he was worth a top 10 draft selection and why he’s already deserving of being considered among the top all-around backs in the NFL today.