49ers vs. Rams: 3 things to look forward to in Week 8

No. 3: Christian McCaffrey with a full week of 49ers practice

Running back Christian McCaffrey was traded by the Carolina Panthers to the 49ers on the night of Thursday, Oct. 20, for a slew of draft picks. The Niners looked to be taking advantage of a player that is a dual threat as a runner and a pass catcher.

After a 2019 season in which the versatile McCaffrey earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections, he only played a combined 10 games in the last two seasons due to injury.

In 2022, McCaffrey looks to be making a comeback from a numbers perspective. In his first six games with Carolina this season, he topped 100 scrimmage yards in all but his Week 1 game.

In his first game with San Francisco, notably on a short week after having only had two full days with the team’s playbook, he put up numbers and showed a penchant for being a quick learner. McCaffrey rushed eight times for 38 yards and caught two passes for 24 yards while appearing in only 29 percent of snaps on offense.

If we figure that once McCaffrey has had a full week to learn the playbook head coach Kyle Shanahan has put together, he should be available on roughly 85 to 90 percent of offensive snaps.

Extrapolate his sample numbers against Kansas City across a full offensive workload, and we could see McCaffrey having well over 150 scrimmage yards.

That alone is a lot to look forward to in Week 8.