How would Christian McCaffrey’s numbers have looked with a full season?

Christian McCaffrey’s 2020 numbers

In the three games Christian McCaffrey competed in with the Carolina Panthers in 2020, he remained the focal point of the offense and put up some lofty numbers in the process. The running back was leaned on heavily once again over the first two contests to take some of the pressure away from new arrival Teddy Bridgewater and his presence in the backfield at the Chiefs almost came with the unlikeliest of victories at Arrowhead Stadium.

McCaffrey got 76 combined touches over three games – which would have been more had he not got injured early in the second half against the Buccaneers. This resulted in 374 total yards from scrimmage, six touchdowns, and a 75.5 grade from Pro Football Focus.

Had the face of the franchise carried on this level throughout the campaign, it would have come with numbers not too similar to what McCaffrey achieved in 2019.

Let’s take a look at these projections with a full season and where they’d rank across the league.

• 1,200 rushing yards (3rd in NFL)
• 795 receiving yards (1st)
• 32 combined touchdowns (1st)
• 1,995 scrimmage yards (1st)

Now, had McCaffrey been this close to 2,000 all-purpose yards in the final game, then the Carolina Panthers would have given him the touches needed to achieve this feat for the second consecutive year. This would have been an exceptional achievement whichever way one looks at it and one that was sure to vindicate their decision to give him such a big contract.

The Panthers may not have made the playoffs.

But they might have been a lot closer had McCaffrey churned out these sorts of numbers from a full campaign that was injury-free.