SANTA CLARA – It’s clear that Christian McCaffrey brings a powerful running style to the 49ers’ offense, but Brock Purdy believes the former All-Pro brings more.
“As a quarterback, it feels good to know that Christian is going to give everything he can to the O-line, to myself, to this team on every single run,” Purdy said Thursday. “If you watch the film, there are things where it could be like a two-yard, three-yard gain, but Christian is running his motor and he’ll get an eight-yard, nine, 10-yard gain.”
McCaffrey leads the NFL with 353 rushing yards in three games and was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for September. In addition to his three rushing touchdowns, he also caught 11 of his 13 targets for 70 yards.
However, what McCaffrey does off the field has an impact on Purdy and the locker room.
“The way Christian prepares and what he does in practice just shows the drive and hunger he has and loves for this game,” Purdy said. “So when we go out on the field for games we know we’re going to give it our best shot.
“He’s a big difference maker. We can always count on Christian to bring some juice and energy, and we feed off that.”
McCaffrey ran like a man possessed during training camp, which may not always be the case for a seasoned veteran. While the 49ers’ offense has always been incredibly physical, the addition of the Stanford product has elevated the group even further in Purdy’s opinion.
“It’s huge,” Purdy said. “When you see on film how a guy delivers the ball, whether he catches the ball or runs it, he does everything and doesn’t go down after the first hit. For us on offense: If Christian is willing to do it like a playmaker who isn’t just about the stats and does the dirty work so we can see we’re doing well, then we want to get behind him Guy pose and feed off of it and do what he does.”
McCaffrey was a perfect fit for the 49ers’ offense and their style of play that relied on yards after the catch. Along with George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Kyle Juszczyk, the running back is continually gaining yards after breaking tackles.
“He kind of sets the standard and we all love following him and playing alongside Christian,” Purdy said. “He’s special.”
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