Why Christian McCaffrey goes into 2021 with a point to prove
By Dean Jones
Christian McCaffrey’s frustrating 2020 season
There was absolutely nothing wrong with Christian McCaffrey’s production on the field, which was stellar once again. The 2019 All-Pro was leaned on heavily by the Carolina Panthers despite a wealth of options on offense, but it was his inability to stay healthy that became an ongoing frustration for the player and the organization throughout the campaign.
First, it was an ankle injury suffered in Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that sent him to the reserve/injured list. McCaffrey managed to come back for Carolina’s crunch clash at the Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs and looked like he hadn’t even been away until he got hit late in the game that resulted in a shoulder strain and another period on the sidelines.
This was met with calls to shut McCaffrey down for the season with nothing much for the Panthers to play for other than pride.
But as it turned out, the decision was taken out of everyone’s hands.
McCaffrey’s pursuit of coming back after the bye was halted by a quad problem suffered during a personal workout away from the team facility.
The icing on the cake, as it were.
His production in three games resulted in 374 yards from scrimmage – 225 on the ground and 149 receiving – together with six touchdowns and a 75.8 grade from Pro Football Focus. But McCaffrey has more to prove going into next season than at any stage since he entered the league as the No. 8 overall selection out of Stanford.