Christian McCaffrey with the Carolina Panthers, 2019
With the Carolina Panthers, 2019. Photo: All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Running back, Stanford, 2014–⁠16

Christian McCaffrey

Number
No. 5
Height
6′0″
Hometown
Castle Rock, CO
Born
Jun 7, 1996, in Castle Rock, Colorado

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Christian McCaffrey played running back at Stanford (2014–⁠16). He won the 2015 Paul Hornung Award. He finished second in the 2015 Heisman vote and was a consensus All‑American in 2015. The Carolina Panthers took McCaffrey in the first round, No. 8 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft.

At a glance

Best season
2,019
Rushing yards, 2015 (Stanford, 12–⁠2)
Best game
284 yards
At California, week 12, 2016: No. 1 rushing game in FBS that week
National rank
No. 2
In FBS in rushing yards, 2015
Drafted
No. 8
Overall, 2017 NFL Draft (Carolina Panthers)

Career highs

284rushing yards, career highat California, 20164rushing touchdowns, career highvs. UCLA, 20157catches, career highvs. Kansas State, 2016112receiving yards, career highvs. Washington, 2015

Honors

Team titles: Pac-12 champions, 2015

All-America: consensus 2015; Fox Sports 2016

Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.

Rushing

Rushing yards, season by season, with his team’s record
SeasonTeamCarYdsAvgTDLong
2014Stanford423007.1037
2015Stanford3372,0196.0870
2016Stanford2531,6036.31390
Career6323,9226.22190

Returns

SeasonTeamKRYdsTDPRYdsTD
2014Stanford691091540
2015Stanford371,0701151301
2016Stanford14318010960
Career571,4791343801

Receiving

SeasonTeamRecYdsAvgTDLong
2014Stanford1725114.8252
2015Stanford4564514.3575
2016Stanford373108.4356
Career991,20612.21075

Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.

On the roster

SeasonTeamNo.PosHt
2014Stanford5RB
2015Stanford5RB
2016Stanford5RB6′0″

As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.

Per play

SeasonTeamPlaysEPA/playPctileMedianTotalUsageAdj. rush
2014Stanford590.47––27.78%–
2015Stanford3900.2787th (n=268)0.12105.441%0.16
2016Stanford2990.2683rd (n=259)0.1378.642%0.31

Expected points added: how much the player’s plays moved the team’s expected score, per play and in total. Plays: total EPA divided by EPA per play, the plays the source credits to him (for a receiver roughly his catches and runs, not every target; for a passer, not every attempt), so it can differ from attempts plus carries. Percentile: against the position’s regulars that season across all divisions on file (quarterbacks with 150+ plays, backs 60+, receivers and tight ends 30+), with how many there were (n) and their median; a dash means too few plays to rank. A season in progress uses the full-season bar scaled by games played, never below 75 plays for quarterbacks, 30 for backs and 20 for receivers. The cohort grows or shrinks with the source’s coverage each season (2025 lists far more players), so compare percentiles rather than raw EPA across years. FCS seasons are marked. Usage: the share of the team’s plays the player was part of (shown from 20 plays). Adjusted pass and rush: EPA per play adjusted for the defenses faced (CollegeFootballData’s WEPA). From CollegeFootballData, 2013 on.

Game by game

2016 Stanford 11 games, 1,603 rushing yards, 13 TD
DateOpponentResultCarRush ydsRush TDKRYdsPR
Sep 2vs.Kansas StateW 26–⁠132212621282
Sep 17vs.USCW 27–⁠10311721122–
Sep 24atUCLAW 22–⁠13261380114–
Sep 30atWashingtonL 6–⁠44124905144–
Oct 8vs.Washington StateL 16–⁠428350343–
Oct 22vs.ColoradoL 5–⁠1021920––1
Oct 29atArizonaW 34–⁠10231692––3
Nov 5vs.Oregon StateW 26–⁠15321991236–
Nov 12atOregonW 52–⁠27171353131–
Nov 19atCaliforniaW 45–⁠31312843––1
Nov 26vs.RiceW 41–⁠17302041––3
2015 Stanford 14 games, 2,019 rushing yards, 8 TD
DateOpponentResultCarRush ydsRush TDKRYdsPR
Sep 5atNorthwesternL 6–⁠16126604901
Sep 12vs.UCFW 31–⁠7205801172
Sep 19atUSCW 41–⁠31261150597–
Sep 25atOregon StateW 42–⁠243020602561
Oct 3vs.ArizonaW 55–⁠171715612984
Oct 15vs.UCLAW 56–⁠352524342122–
Oct 24vs.WashingtonW 31–⁠14231091379–
Oct 31atWashington StateW 30–⁠28221070––1
Nov 7atColoradoW 42–⁠102314702461
Nov 14vs.OregonL 36–⁠383314712601
Nov 21vs.CaliforniaW 35–⁠222919203148–
Nov 28vs.Notre DameW 38–⁠362794051091
Dec 5vs.USCW 41–⁠2232207151202
Jan 1 ✦vs.IowaW 45–⁠161817201281
2014 Stanford 12 games, 300 rushing yards
DateOpponentResultCarRush ydsRush TDKRYdsPR
Aug 30vs.UC DavisW 45–⁠01100––3
Sep 13vs.ArmyW 35–⁠04290–––
Sep 27atWashingtonW 20–⁠13––––––
Oct 4atNotre DameL 14–⁠17––––––
Oct 10vs.Washington StateW 34–⁠173280–––
Oct 18atArizona StateL 10–⁠261−30338–
Oct 25vs.Oregon StateW 38–⁠143190––1
Nov 1atOregonL 16–⁠45100129–
Nov 15vs.UtahL 17–⁠208770224–
Nov 22atCaliforniaW 38–⁠173190–––
Nov 28atUCLAW 31–⁠1011640––1
Dec 30 ✦vs.MarylandW 45–⁠217570––4

Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.

Before the draft

DrillCombine 2017
Height5′11¼″
Weight202 lb
Arm length30″
Hand size9″
Wingspan71⅝″W
40-yard dash4.48 s
10-yard split1.52 sW
Vertical jump37½″
Broad jump10′1″
Bench press10 reps
3-cone drill6.57 s
20-yard shuttle4.22 s

Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

In the NFL

10 seasons, 117 games with a stat; latest team: San Francisco 49ers.

Pro Bowls: 3 (2019, 2023, 2025) · First-team All-Pro (AP): 3 (2019, 2023, 2025) · Second-team All-Pro (AP): 2018

All-Pro teams: AP first team 2019, 2023, 2025; AP second team 2018; Pro Football Writers first team 2019, 2023, 2025; Sporting News first team 2019, 2023, 2025.

SeasonTeamGCarYdsTDRecRec yds
2017Carolina Panthers16117435280651
2018Carolina Panthers162191,0987107867
2019Carolina Panthers162871,387151161,005
2020Carolina Panthers359225517149
2021Carolina Panthers799442137343
2022San Francisco 49ers172441,139885741
2023San Francisco 49ers162721,4591467564
2024San Francisco 49ers450202015146
2025San Francisco 49ers173111,20210102924
2026 (so far)San Francisco 49ers561286519137
NFL career1171,7197,875676455,527

Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat. Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams by NFL season: rosters and honors, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

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