We’re through spots 100-70 on NFL.com’s top 100 players list, and just one player has made it so far: San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey. As you know, the voting—which NFL.com touts as voted by the players— is somewhat nebulous, and the list tends to take on the form of a popularity contest rather than anything else.
Last year, McCaffrey came in at 70 and dropped three spots. As for the skid, it’s pretty apparent the issue would be his limited playing time in 2024, something highlighted
in his blurb below:
McCaffrey’s 2024 campaign was riddled with injuries, but he appears on the Top 100 for the third consecutive year. He began the season dealing with Achilles and calf injuries before making his season debut in Week 10. McCaffrey returned to his RB1 role, but he suffered a season-ending PCL injury in Week 13. McCaffrey is still a top RB when healthy and he’ll look forward to a bounce-back season in Year 9.
NFL Insight for McCaffrey: The 2023 rushing leader played in just four games in 2024 due to injury, but in those games McCaffrey was productive. He rushed for 202 yards and had 146 yards receiving in Weeks 10-13, the only player in the NFL with at least 200 rushing yards and 140 receiving yards in that span.
McCaffrey has had plenty of rest and is primed for a monster season. He did share the most receiving touchdowns in 2023 with wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel at seven, and could take that spot again in 2025.
As for why he’s ranked so far back, who knows? This was the guy who made the cover of Madden in 2024 (and if you believe in curses, that may be why he had a nightmare of a season last year).
As the season goes on, you’re going to see numerous top-100 lists showing up: some legit, some not. The NFL Top 100 has its share of criticisms, but it is talked about. Now that we’re through spots 100-70, it’s curious to see where other 49ers players like George Kittle or Fred Warner will show up, or if some, like Brock Purdy, make the list at all. This is the same list that snubbed DeForest Buckner a few years back when he was with the 49ers.
Who do you think gets snubbed this year?
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