3 examples that indicate worrying career path for Christian McCaffrey

Todd Gurley fell off a cliff quickly

One player that comes to mind as being eerily similar to Christian McCaffrey is former Los Angeles Rams superstar Todd Gurley. A three-time Pro Bowl selection to go along with an All-Pro nod in both 2017 and 2018 that was out of the league by 2021.

A nagging knee injury kept Gurley out of much of the Super Bowl push by the Rams and there was a lot of controversy surrounding the decision to sit the running back at the time. But looking back now we can see just how limited he was.

Even in that 2018 season, there were signs of degradation and the fall happened quickly once it took hold. Gurley went from piling on 1,251 yards and 17 touchdowns to a measly 678 yards with nine scores in only two seasons which is shocking, to say the least.

This steep drop in performance culminated in the superstar running back being released with another two years of his whopping four-year, $60 million extension left on the table. Beyond stats, Gurley just didn’t appear the same – he looked slow and somewhat hampered when compared to the film of himself from as recent as the year before.

With hindsight, we now know that the torn ACL suffered by Gurley in college led to the development of arthritis in that knee which progressed to the point the young player simply couldn’t go on at the same level any longer. Nevertheless, the NFL is a production-based league with no room for sentiment.

While McCaffrey does not have an injury like that of Gurley’s, it is concerning to see just how quickly a player can go from the mountain top to forgotten by the league with little warning.