Christian McCaffrey: It would be 'awesome' to be picked by Broncos
INDIANAPOLIS — Often a prospect at the NFL’s scouting combine will step into the room the Denver Broncos use for player interviews and feel a bit in awe seeing John Elway for the first time.
For Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey, it was a far different experience. McCaffrey’s father Ed played for the Broncos’ back-to-back Super Bowl winners to close out the 1997 and 1998 seasons, so seeing Elway was a reminder of home.
It was the same when McCaffrey saw Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio inside Lucas Oil Stadium. Del Rio’s son, Luke, was a quarterback for McCaffrey’s high school team when Jack Del Rio was the Broncos defensive coordinator.
“Looking at the Raiders’ side and the Broncos’ side, so many people here that I’ve grown up knowing,’’ McCaffrey said Thursday at the combine. “It’s pretty surreal now that I’m here.’’
McCaffrey met with the Broncos’ decision-makers Wednesday night. Not as a hometown kid catching up, but as a versatile runner, receiver and returner the Broncos could use to spice up an offense that will get plenty of attention in free agency and the draft.
Or as McCaffrey put it: “I believe I would be an every-down back and a specialist.’’
“He’s a dynamic player who can do it all,’’ Elway said. “Wherever he goes he’s going to have an immediate impact.’’
Asked if it would be any more difficult for McCaffrey to play for the team his dad played for, in the city where his parents still live — Ed is a cohost on an afternoon radio show in Denver — Elway said Christian’s competitiveness would make it an easy transition.
“Knowing what I know of Christian and knowing how competitive he is, he’s got a great deal of respect for his dad, but he also looks at himself and he’s going to blaze his own trail,’’ Elway said. “The expectations that he has for himself are awful high.’’
The Broncos have the 20th pick in the first round and, depending on the team or the draft analyst polled, McCaffrey sits as the No. 3 or No. 4 back on the draft board leading up to the combine workouts for backs Friday.
It is a deep draft class at the position as well, which could make teams more patient in selecting one and potentially push a back or two further down the board than one might expect. But LSU’s Leonard Fournette, Florida State’s Dalvin Cook, McCaffrey and Tennessee’s Alvin Kamara generally are regarded as the top of the class.
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On the prospect of the Broncos selecting him, McCaffrey said he would embrace the idea.
“That’d be awesome, that’d be great, I’d love to play there,’’ McCaffrey said. “It’s kind of hard to be a fan of anywhere any more because you start to wind down things and you don’t know where you’re going to end up. I’d be happy to play for anybody.’’
The Broncos, who struggled in the offensive line for much of the season and saw three backs finish the year on injured reserve, finished the season 27th in rushing, 27th in total offense and 22nd in scoring in a 9-7 finish.
McCaffrey is one of the most versatile players on the draft board, having gained 3,864 yards in the 2015 season, breaking Barry Sanders’ single-season record for all-purpose yardage. McCaffrey suffered what he called a bruised hip during the 2016 season and still led the nation with 2,327 all-purpose yards, including 1,603 rushing yards.
In Indianapolis, McCaffrey measured in at 5-foot-11 and weighed 202 pounds. Given his production at Stanford, he expressed a little confusion at why some have questioned his ability to transition to a full-time player in the NFL.
“I wish I knew, to be honest,’’ McCaffrey said. “I play with a chip on my shoulder always, I feel like people don’t always give me credit for my skills and talents and that’s just the way it is. I also don’t care too much, I don’t feel like I’m crazy disrespected. I have a chip on my shoulder at all times.’’
