San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan extolled the benefits that having running back Christian McCaffrey created for the team's offense.
Shanahan described how having "Christian really makes it easier to get the ball to," the team's remaining playmakers, such as George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, describing how McCaffrey's ability to erase a linebacker's leverage can completely tilt the field in the 49ers' favor. McCaffrey seemed to fit right in in the Bay area after joining the team partway through the year, and nearly helped take the squad to the Super Bowl in spite of their issues at the quarterback position.
McCaffrey is a threat to finish as the RB1 in any given season and has the top spot in numberFire's rankings for the upcoming 2023 season as a result. We have him projected for 266.9 fantasy points off of 225 rushes, 1,044 rushing yards, and 10.5 rushing touchdowns, as well as 87 receptions, 696 receiving yards, and 5 more receiving scores.
Source: David Lombardi, The Athletic