49ers prove their system works without Christian McCaffrey | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC

Jordan Mason in 2022 had 43 carries for the entire season and he averaged 6.0 yards per attempt 2023 he had 40 carries for the entire season average 5.2 last night he had 28 carries in one game and average 5.3 this gets back to the Mike Shanahan approach I remember this Devin back when you were like 10 or 11 years old when shanam was coaching the Broncos and Terrell Davis went down with an ACL in the 1999 season after they'd won two Super Bowls in a row and they're trying to figure out what they're going to be post John Elway all of a sudden Here Comes ois Gary thousand yards Here Comes Mike Anderson thousand yards and this is what's been weird about the 49ers because they've embraced chrisan mcaffrey they've paid Christian mcaffrey that defies what they've done because their attitude has always been we we got somebody else if this guy's hurt if this guy wants to leave if we trade him whatever we got somebody else Clinton poris traded by the the Denver Broncos to Washington we got we got some we're fine we're fine because we got because we we have a system there's so many running backs out there that can run the ball if you can trust them to hold on to it you block for him you trust them in Blitz pickup there's so many guys that can do it and what Jordan Mason did last night making $985,000 this year man Christian MC like it's it's a strange wrinkle for a team that is spread so thin financially they got a lot invested at running back and last night's game is a reminder that they probably don't need to so the the interesting thing to me is we look at I think look at the Green Bay Packers look at the Baltimore Ravens have these backs you look at Derk Henry you look at Josh Jacobs they're two special kind of running backs and how they run the ball but I think as a defense you have a a very strong mentality to say which back is in the game I thought the Baltimore game we really saw it of when derck Henry was in compared to when Justice Hill was in it just felt like a totally different offense and the defense they are into it and they have a beat on it so they talk about that I remember being in huddles and we would be saying to who's in the game which back in the game and understanding that and once they go to play the call sheet differs Christian mcaffrey saquon Barkley those are two different type of backs where they're always in the game and when they're in the game not much changes in what they can do they can split out wide they can run a wheel route they can run routes that receivers runs and when you have that it's hard to match up you don't always have a linebacker who can go out there and cover Christian mcaffrey or jquan Barkley you don't always have the guys up front who can take on the maybe two tight end run blocking run scheme that allow these guys to run the ball in between the tackles and run outside so I think having those guys it just changes things up as a defense you understand hey these guys are unbelievable players we have to come every single play shoot we got to tell each other when they leave the game because now it comes back down a little bit because of their ability to do so many different things on the field I think for San Francisco the unique thing is when Christian mcaffry is not there they also have a guy in Debo Samuel when he's on the field you have to know where he's line where he's lining up which I think creates a difference but I understand why those two guys get paid at running back because they're they just can do things that I don't think many other running backs can do I think Bree Hall is a guy that has a little combination but you even see the difference in how he can run routs compared to Christian mcaffrey and saquon Barkley but when you have the offensive line when you have have the play calling and playd designing Genius of Kyle Shanahan you can pluck Jordan Mason Off the Bench and look I maybe he's special too maybe if given an opportunity week in and week out if he could physically hold up one of the things he said to Lisa salers of ESPN last night was I said to Christian I don't know how the hell you do it I don't know how you do it you know it hurts to get hit that many times as you're the battering ramp 28 carries in a game but it's amazing to see with mcaffrey out because it all happened so quickly the news came that he was inactive nobody saw it coming and again at some point I'm going to take a little step onto my soap box the same Soap Box I stand on when I'm on the one you were standing on the other night when you were caught between the the the Redwoods of Maria Taylor and Chris Sims but but it all happened so quickly like there was this Vibe hey maybe the Jets can pull this off no Christian mcaffrey offensive player of the year last year you take him out of the mix and everything that he does maybe the 49 can be had Brandon iuk wasn't practicing until recently Trent Williams held out maybe maybe you Jets defense Aaron Rogers is back maybe the 49ers are vulnerable it's probably one of the reasons why they kept it under wraps because they knew that if the Jets had a full and complete chance to think about this and plan and react maybe maybe they would be able to take down the 49ers but it ultim doesn't matter when you're getting your ass kicked up front I could have well not me you could have been playing running back you had that great running back number of 32 you could have been back there carrying the ball even though you played defense for your career and you would have been able to move the chains with what the 49ers were doing but the praise went to Jordan Mason who had the huge night last night here's some of the 49ers talking about what the third-year undrafted player from Georgia Tech got done against the Jets you know coming in rookie year trying to learn the Playbook together you know he and I would like meet a lot and go through everything so he's always had that drive to to learn and knowing that you know we were guys that you know I was the last pick and he was undrafted and uh knowing that we weren't going to have a lot of opportunities and we had to make the most of the opportunities that we got um so he knew that and we both did and so to see him over the last two years you know just push the envelope more and more every year and then get an OP you know this year at camp and do well with it and obviously in the first game of the season he did great with it so really really excited for him he's earned it man he's the kind of guy that was not given to him and so um to see him go out and do what he did tonight man I'm so happy for him and I know he's going to keep pushing I thought he runs like he always does I mean when you get him the ball he breaks tackles usually gets more than um we block than we block for um we had the good Lanes he always hit them and got a bunch but um JP was awesome today Brock pie on his way to teach social studies stopping by the press conference room I me I and it's funny to me the the range that we see of what quarterbacks wear two games what they wear after games but yeah Mr py we're we're here for class we're we're at least he looks old enough finally after a few years to be the teacher and not one of the students right at least he made that transition you know but uh but you know and and some of the stats that come up Devon in the aftermath games are amazing me Matt Casey sent this on our thread last night this new thread that you're on that I haven't muted yet because my phone dinged at like 3:00 a.m. but and thanks thanks Matt thanks a lot Matt some of us don't have kids that wake up in the middle of the night but uh the 49ers and again how does anybody even think of this the 49ers are the only NFL team in the Super Bowl era to get a 200 yard passing game Brock pie 125 yard rushing game Jordan Mason 50 yard receiving game Jawan Jennings and an interception for Flanigan fos from four players who were drafted 200th or later or not drafted at all that's a testament to what the 49 have done under Kyle shanan and John Lynch they find guys well beyond the point at which anyone gives a crap about who's being drafted because we don't know which one of those guys are going to pan out oh that guy that's nice good for him he's been drafted let's see what he does in the NFL the 49ers have a hell of a collection of guys who fall into that category of let's see what they do who come in and get it done and I love that because I think right away when we hear a guy is a late pick or he's undrafted right away people are like oh that's all about development and coaching but it's also a reminder that the draft happens on where people think the value is in a player it doesn't always mean if a guy is a good football player they have the scouting combine they have the allstar games and all that everyone goes and they look at a guy and they say hey this guy is he's not fast enough he's not tall enough all of those things but they'll say but I think I think he'll get a shot in the NFL and that's when you really can tell when a guys get real opportunities and I think the best teams in football do an awesome job at saying okay these are our draft picks this is where we value guys this is where we're going to go select them but here's a a column of guys that might be undrafted or they'll be available late into the seventh round here's where we can get guys that fit our scheme fit our system you look at Ma and I'm sure when they watched him in college and they said in college he didn't even have a game where he got the ball 28 times so shout out to their Scouts who even gave this guy an opportunity to come in because he didn't even get to show this in college fully going and carrying the ball over and over and wearing down a defense but I'm sure they went watch and said hey this guy runs pretty hard hey he looks like in our scheme when we're Zone blocking he'll be able to hit gaps find the right gaps as Shanahan said even when there's not much there he gets yards but when there is there he finds the Gap every single time it reminds me of Andy Reid and V down in Kansas City where they talked about Isaiah Pacho and they watched him Ruckers and they said wow like this guy's getting some yards and the offensive Line's not really blocking anybody imagine what he can do if we put them behind our offensive line and get them in our system and I think that's the value in having an organization that is built from the top down of there's constant communication there's alignment Jason Garrett always talks about that every week the right organizations they have the right alignment and I think when you look at San Francisco the alignment is right they're getting the guys not only that the front office likes but that Kyle Shanahan says hey this guy fits our system we can put him in there and he can play for us and think about how hard that is to look Beyond The Superficial obvious football statistics and for a running back your statistics are the bread and butter Jordan Mason hadn't had 28 rushing attempts in a game since high school at Gallatin High in Tennessee for crying out loud and I'm looking at his Georgia Tech numbers his last year at Georgia Tech he had 87 rushing attempts in 12 games for 439 yards what you know and that just tells you what goes into set that aside because sometimes colleges don't use a guy the way they should they don't realize they have somebody who's special and this guy was third Team all ACC in 2019 I didn't even know ACC had a third team like at what point do you just say let's just call it honorable mention move on third Team all ACC that's the most he'd ever done that just shows you how special last night was and the 49ers saw it they knew it and they believed and he got the chance and he delivered that's what makes it even more amazing Christian mcaffry better get healthy that's the that's the one thing about this league when you got when you're on the sideline and other guys are playing it allows coaches front office to say h we thought like we believed in him but he might be a little bit better than we thought you look at Drew blo who has made an unbelievable comeback of telling these stories and different things about Brady but he gets hurt Brady comes in and just like that that opportunity on that team $100 million contract is gone you don't want to sit on the sideline too long so I would expect to see Christian mcaffrey sooner rather than later coming back for that 49ers team hi it's Mike Florio thanks for watching PFT on YouTube hit subscribe for the latest news and Analysis from pro football talk