The San Francisco 49ers got back their star running back Christian McCaffrey in Week 11 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan compared McCaffrey to another star Bay Area athlete: Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
Shanahan made this comparison in his weekly conversation with Niners announcer Greg Papa of NBC Sports Bay Area.
The entire interview can be watched here.
There was a fascinating part of the interview where Papa asks Shanahan about how McCaffrey creates opportunities for his teammates just by forcing the other team to account for him on the field.
Shanahan broke down the fact that weapons like McCaffrey and tight end George Kittle are typically guarded by linebackers and safeties, respectively. That creates mismatches for San Francisco because both McCaffrey and Kittle are essentially wide receivers with their skills.
Shanahan then said, with regard to McCaffrey and Kittle, "One of those guys is going to be guarded by a linebacker and the other guy will get a safety. And not many safeties can guard either of those guys. It really gives an advantage for somebody... I always compare it to Steph Curry. When he's on the court, there's a lot more space for everyone else."
It is an apt comparison because, like McCaffrey, Curry is always going to draw attention from the other team. His ability to knock down three-pointers, like McCaffrey's ability to take the ball to the house any time he touches it, means that defenses are going to sell out to try and prevent him from being the one to beat them.
That, in turn, creates opportunities for other players to succeed. McCaffrey and Curry truly are kindred spirits because they are the kind of players that impact everything else going on in the game and make their team better whether they have the ball in their hands or not.
Two 49ers wide receivers, Deebo Samuel and Ricky Pearsall, got to see Curry's brilliance first hand earlier this week on Tuesday as the Warriors took down the Dallas Mavericks and Curry put up 37 points.
The hope is that having McCaffrey back on the field will help everything fully click for the Niners on offense the rest of this year. The key area they need to improve is their red-zone offense which, one would think, McCaffrey can play a big part in by drawing attention and creating those mismatches just like Curry drawing a double team to allow Buddy Hield to knock down a three.
Shanahan is clearly thrilled to have McCaffrey back and the Niners fans are thrilled to have football's version of Steph Curry back on the field.