49ers studs and duds from strong Week 8 victory vs. Rams

Stud: Christian McCaffrey

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: The player of the game was running back Christian McCaffrey and it wasn’t even particularly close.

McCaffrey was precisely the kind of player the 49ers hoped they would be getting with their blockbuster trade a few weeks ago, and the extra time to learn the playbook fully made a difference.

With the entirety of the Niners’ offensive scheme open to him, McCaffrey became only the third running back in history to get a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game. He’s in an elite company, too, with the other two being Hall of Famers Walter Payton and LaDainian Tomlinson.

McCaffrey finished with 94 yards and a touchdown off 18 carries, eight receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown and a touchdown pass perfectly weighted to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

The 49ers haven’t had this kind of receiving threat out of the backfield for a very long time, and Kyle Shanahan took full advantage of this, scheming the ball into his hands.

The only downside was a couple of fumbles for the day, but no harm was done as both were recovered by San Francisco.

And now, Shanahan will have two whole weeks to scheme even more plays for McCaffrey, the mind boggles at what we might see.