Christian McCaffrey evidently has lightning speed in the NFL record books, too.
The 49ers star’s 3-yard catch on his team’s first offensive play Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens made McCaffrey the fastest running back to reach 500 receptions in his NFL career. And by fastest, we mean fastest: He hit the mark in just 90 games — 22 fewer than Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk.
McCaffrey seems to have Faulk’s records in his sights right now. He started Monday needing two rushing touchdowns to become the fifth player in NFL history with at least 15 rushing TDs and five receiving TDs in a season, joining Faulk, O.J. Simpson (1975), Ahman Green (2003) and Alvin Kamara (2020) on that list. Also, McCaffrey’s next game with both a rushing TD and a receiving TD would be the 16th such game of his career, which would surpass Faulk for the most in NFL history.
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McCaffrey has been a revelation not only with the 49ers since last year’s mid-season trade from the Carolina Panthers but during his entire NFL career. He’s the third NFL player ever with 6,000 rushing and 4,000 receiving yards in his first seven seasons, along with Faulk and 49ers great Roger Craig.
As for this season — his first full campaign with the 49ers — McCaffrey entered Week 16 leading the NFL with 1,801 yards from scrimmage (1,292 rushing, 509 receiving) and tied for the league lead with 20 touchdowns (13 rushing, seven receiving). That all-around excellence has NFL MVP talk swirling, but for now, McCaffrey is focused on a Super Bowl run and very much doing his part in it.
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