It's tough to watch Christian McCaffrey on the practice field and not be in awe of the San Francisco 49ers' do-everything running back. If the 49ers need a few yards to pick up a first down on the ground, then McCaffrey is your guy. If they need a big run to get into the end zone, then McCaffrey is your guy. Is your quarterback in trouble? Just have him hit McCaffrey, who might be streaking wide-open down the sideline on his way to the promised land.
"Literally, there's nothing on a football field that Christian can't do," fullback Kyle Juszczyk said Monday on KNBR. "I really genuinely believe that. And he's such a quick learner ... learning the outside zone and how to run that. He has to be told one time, and it feels like he's got it.
"And same thing when it comes to running intricate wide receiver routes. Not just a slant, not just a flat from the slot, not just these easy routes. He can run intricate routes that are certain steps and timing and understanding leverage and coverage. And he'll be told what to do one time, and he'll go out there, and he'll do it. And it's so impressive to see."
The Carolina Panthers traded McCaffrey to the 49ers last season, so the running back didn't have the benefit of a full offseason to learn head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense. Now, with nearly a full offseason finally under his belt, the running back feels much more prepared, and that's bad news for opposing defenses.
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"OTAs were great, just to really understand the concepts and really, not just learn the running back position, but the whole offense," McCaffrey said Monday during his own KNBR interview, "and understand timing with what the quarterback sees and what Kyle sees, and getting timing right with the O-line, and Juice (Juszczyk), and the tight ends. So coming into camp, you're not playing catch up. So it's been great to be able to kind of not just learn the offense, but master it."
McCaffrey's work ethic is unmatched. He seeks perfection and can take information and quickly implement it into his game. That motivates his teammates.
"It pushes me, honestly," Juszczyk admitted. "I see how well he's able to just absorb this knowledge and go over there and translate it to the field, and it's just like, 'Man, we have no excuse.' If I've just seen how he does it, [I know] it's not impossible to just get it on the first try. It can be done."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Juszczyk below.
