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Norv Turner in Carolina

New coordinator could mean new role for Christian McCaffrey

Carolina is bringing in Norv Turner to run the offense. How might that affect the role of Christian McCaffrey? McCaffrey caught 80 passes as a rookie, with fired offensive coordinator Mike Shula using him in a variety of ways – lining him up all over the place.

No doubt there will be changes under Turner, who tends to be a believer in establishing a running game (setting up play-action opportunities). But I wouldn’t worry too much about McCaffrey being overlooked or phased out of the offense. McCaffrey might be one of the top half-dozen pass-catching backs in the league, and I’m sure Turner won’t overlook those abilities.

Turner has used running backs as pass catchers in the past. Going back a few years, but both Larry Centers and LaMont Jordan had seasons with 70-plus receptions under Turner.

In Turner’s last 20 seasons (as either a head coach or offensive coordinator) his leading running backs have averaged 52 catches for 408 yards. McCaffrey catches the ball better than most of those guys.

NORV TURNER: PASS-CATCHING RUNNING BACKS
YearPlayerNoYardsAvgTD
1997Brian Mitchell, Wash.3643812.21
1998Brian Mitchell, Wash.443067.00
1999Larry Centers, Wash.695447.93
2000Larry Centers, Wash.816007.43
2001LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.593676.20
2002Ricky Williams, Mia.473637.71
2003Ricky Williams, Mia.503517.01
2004Amos Zereoue, Oak.392847.30
2005LaMont Jordan, Oak.705638.02
2006Frank Gore, S.F.614858.01
2007LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.604757.93
2008LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.524268.21
2009Darren Sproles, S.D.4549711.04
2010Darren Sproles, S.D.595208.82
2011Mike Tolbert, S.D.544338.02
2012Ronnie Brown, S.D.493717.60
2013Chris Ogbonnaya, Clev.483437.12
2014Matt Asiata, Minn.443127.11
2015Adrian Peterson, Minn.302227.40
2016Jerrick McKinnon, Minn.432555.92

McCaffrey looks iffier as a runner. He’s a smaller guy who’s better in space, so I don’t think they’ll ever commit to him as a full-time back. Turner indicated as a much during a sit-down earlier in the week.

"That hard-nosed running between the tackles he can certainly do, but I don't know that's what you want to lead with him,” Turner told a writer for the team’s official website.

In nine of Turner’s last 20 seasons, the running back who led the team in rushing didn’t catch as many passes as some other back on the team. (Those guys have black dots in front of their names below). And in my estimation, Turner has employed a multiple-back approach in all but one of his last eight seasons.

At a minimum, I expect McCaffrey to catch 55-60 passes, but probably some other back (Jonathan Stewart, most likely) will finish with more carries and more rushing yards.

NORV TURNER'S LEADING RUSHERS
YearPlayerRun YdsTD
1997• Terry Allen, Wash.7244
1998• Terry Allen, Wash.7002
1999• Stephen Davis, Wash.1,40517
2000• Stephen Davis, Wash.1,31811
2001LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.1,23610
2002Ricky Williams, Mia.1,85316
2003Ricky Williams, Mia.1,3729
2004Amos Zereoue, Oak.4253
2005LaMont Jordan, Oak.1,0259
2006Frank Gore, S.F.1,6958
2007LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.1,47415
2008LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.1,11011
2009• LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.73012
2010• Mike Tolbert, S.D.73511
2011• Ryan Mathews, S.D.1,0916
2012• Ryan Mathews, S.D.7071
2013• Willis McGahee, Clev.3772
2014Matt Asiata, Minn.5709
2015Adrian Peterson, Minn.1,48511
2016Jerrick McKinnon, Minn.5392

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index