4 RBs were drafted before Alvin Kamara

Christian McCaffrey

The other player viewed as potentially reaching the 1,000-1,000 club was one of the players drafted ahead of Kamara. McCaffrey was one of the biggest names in college football during his tenure. In his two seasons at Stanford, it seemed like he could do it all. In his sophomore season, he had over 2,000 yards on the ground and 2,664 yards from scrimmage. His junior year wasn’t quite as eye-popping statistically but there was no serious drop-off either.

The Carolina Panthers liked their chances with the dual-threat back and used the eighth pick of the draft to make him their back of the future. Johnathon Stewart was already 29 at the time and the team needed a faster back to keep up with the fast tempo. McCaffrey also offered the team a receiving option to help alleviate some pressure off of Kelvin Benjamin.

McCaffrey has ended up being the ideal fit for what the Panthers needed. Playing behind Stewart caused his rushing yards to fall short of some expectations in his rookie campaign but he made up for it by hauling in 651 receiving yards. In year two, he was given the reins of the backfield and he delivered. His rushing stats exploded but he remained a passing threat as well. In 2018, he finished with 1,965 total yards from scrimmage. 

McCaffrey seems to be a star on the rise. He can do anything for his offense and is a legitimate threat to break the 1,000-1,000 club along with Kamara. His stats even seem better than Kamara’s but they come as a result of high usage. Last season, McCaffrey played 965 snaps. That’s 308 more snaps than Kamara. This high usage is impressive on its own but it does somewhat diminish the pure magnitude of Mccaffrey’s statistics.

While there is no doubt about McCaffrey’s ability, Kamara is undoubtedly the more efficient player and better scorer between the two. The Panthers have no remorse over their decision to pick McCaffrey to this point but Kamara is arguably the better athlete and player between the two.