Getty Christian McCaffrey tries to break away from a tackle on December 15, 2022 in Seattle.
Six members of the San Francisco 49ers were named 2022 Pro Bowlers, but none of them were the addition that helped spark their current seven-game winning streak Christian McCaffrey.
One All-Pro who blocks for “Run CMC” and catches passes with him sounded off on the snub — even using the word “travesty” to describe the feeling.
“Respect to the guys who made it but complete travesty that CMC is not on this roster,” said seven-time Pro Bowler Kyle Juszczyk of the 49ers on Twitter when responding to a tweet post made by The Athletic 49ers insider David Lombardi.
That post from Lombardi detailed how McCaffrey had more All-Purpose yards than three Pro Bowl running backs.
All-purpose yards, NFC running backs…
Christian McCaffrey: 1,578
Saquon Barkley: 1,464*
Tony Pollard: 1,279*
Miles Sanders: 1,182*
*Made Pro Bowl
Detailing McCaffrey’s Impact & Why ‘Snub’ Surfaces
The six named to the league’s All-Star gala should be no surprise.
Juszczyk continues to pave the way for fullback votes, Nick Bosa leads the league in sacks, Talanoa Hufanga has put together a dominant season, George Kittle earned his nod, Fred Warner was second in votes for his position and Trent Williams topped the votes in the left tackle group.
McCaffrey made the list as an alternate. Still, some like Lombardi are calling it “a blatant snub.”
A potential argument could be that McCaffrey hasn’t played a full season as a 49er. However, when one looks at his impact, McCaffrey has shown to galvanize an already potent 49ers offense.
Run game yardage increase: Before McCaffrey arrived, the 49ers only produced three games of surpassing more than 100 yards as a team. With McCaffrey? That number has gone to seven in the last eight games.
Aerial ascension: Even by air McCaffrey has impacted the room. Before being traded to S.F., the 49ers produced three straight games of throwing below 185 yards. When McCaffrey showed up, the 49ers have only had one contest in the last eight games when they fell below the 200-yard passing mark — and that was in the 35-7 rout of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Surpassing 30: The 49ers only delivered one game when they surpassed 30 points pre-McCaffrey (the 37-15 romp of the Carolina Panthers when he was still in Charlotte). But since his arrival? The 49ers have now produced four games of scoring 30 or more.
And on McCaffrey’s personal end, he went from combining for 670 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns with Carolina to racking up 880 total yards and seven touchdowns in the Bay Area. Even with two different franchises, McCaffrey has combined for 10 touchdowns rushing and receiving — which is more than the total scores the Pro Bowler Barkley has.
Support Stretches Outside of 49ers Pro Bowler for McCaffrey
Juszczyk and Lombardi aren’t the only ones calling McCaffrey’s Pro Bowl status how they see it.
Ari Meirov of Pro Football Focus was another who criticized the snub.
“Christian McCaffrey led all NFC RBs in fan-voting. Him not making it would fall on players and coaches not voting him in, according to the system the NFL has in place. Very odd,” Meirov tweeted.
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport was another who sounded off.
How will McCaffrey respond? Lombardi reminded people of a near identical moment that occurred when McCaffrey wore the Stanford colors.
“Christian McCaffrey’s next game after being snubbed of the Heisman Trophy in 2015: 368 all-purpose yards in the Rose Bowl versus Iowa. (As McCaffrey’s teammate now, George Kittle might enjoy being on the beneficial side of this in 2022),” Lombardi shared.