The Facts: Incoming OC Norv Turner believes there's wrinkles to iron out with a guy like McCaffrey. "He had an unbelievable rookie year and did a lot more than a lot of people would be asked to do and handled them all," Turner said. "He lined up everywhere you could line up, which is hard for a rookie. He's got such talent, you're just going to keep finding ways to get him the ball and try to create more space for him. That hard-nosed running between the tackles he can certainly do, but I don't know that's what you want to lead with him."
Diehards Line:
Because McCaffrey was a top-10 pick, many were expecting an average higher than 3.7 yards per carry. As a receiver, though, he set a franchise rookie record with 80 catches while averaging a healthy 8.1 yards per reception. He also showed a nose for the end zone with eight total scores. After McCaffrey was drafted last spring, some folks compared him to Darren Sproles, Turner’s multi-dimensional spark plug in San Diego. From 2008-12, Sproles averaged 127 touches under Turner. But in 2007, their first year together, Sproles had just 47 chances. “Christian is ahead of (where Sproles was), and there are some things we can do that he did, but Christian can run wide receiver routes,” Turner said. “So yeah, there’s a lot of things we did with Darren that apply, and there are some things that I think we can do differently with Christian. ..." We'll be watching for signs of what that might look like in coming months.