Fansided

The top 25 NFL players under the age of 25

By Russell S. Baxter

KANSAS CITY, MO - JANUARY 20: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs grimaces after being hit during the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots at Arrowhead Stadium on January 20, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - JANUARY 20: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs grimaces after being hit during the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots at Arrowhead Stadium on January 20, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 25
Next
CLEVELAND, OH – DECEMBER 9, 2018: Running back Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers celebrates after scoring a rushing touchdown in the third quarter of a game against the Cleveland Browns on December 9, 2018 at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. The play was nullified due to a penalty. Cleveland won 26-20. (Photo by: 2018 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – DECEMBER 9, 2018: Running back Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers celebrates after scoring a rushing touchdown in the third quarter of a game against the Cleveland Browns on December 9, 2018 at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. The play was nullified due to a penalty. Cleveland won 26-20. (Photo by: 2018 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images) /

20. RB Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers

This past season, a total of 11 players in the league caught at least 100 passes. There were eight wide receivers, a pair of tight ends and one running back.

The latter was Carolina Panthers’ second-year pro Christian McCaffrey. The former Stanford Cardinal not only became just the fourth player at his position to reach the century mark in terms of receptions in one season, the 22-year-old performer set a new NFL record with 107 grabs by a running back. It added up to 867 yards and six scores for the eighth overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft.

But the versatile McCaffrey was far from a one-trick cat. He finished sixth in the league with 1,098 yards on the ground and scored seven touchdowns. He wound up being a very big bright spot on a team that fell on hard times and finished 7-9 after winning six of its first eight games. And only Giants’ rookie Saquon Barkley (2,028) and Cowboys’ standout Ezekiel Elliott (2,001) finished with more total yards from scrimmage this past season than the two-year running back (1,965).

Even more impressive was the leap that McCaffrey took after a debut campaign which saw him gain only 1,086 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns in 16 games while also seeing action on punt and kickoff returns. Of course, the productive running back was a 16-game starter in 2018 while he was in the opening lineup just 10 times during his rookie season. This past year, he proved he could take on a big workload. Will his touches increase in ’19?

Next: No. 19

Home/NFL