Marshall Faulk: Christian McCaffrey is "a better version of me"

[Sir Purr]

Faulk is a Hall of Famer, former MVP and the only player to surpass 12,000 rushing yards and 6,000 receiving yards in his career. So how is McCaffrey, after just three NFL seasons, better?


"He got to watch me. He got to see me. It's what happens," Faulk said. "You get to be a better version of."


That evolution is best told through total scrimmage yards after each player's first three seasons. Faulk was at 4,372 through three years with the Colts. McCaffrey is at 5,443. And it took Faulk six seasons to enter the exclusive club McCaffrey burst into this past year.


In 1999, Faulk joined Roger Craig (1985) as the only players to total 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a season. But to Faulk, McCaffrey's 1,000/1,000 year in 2019 featured bigger hurdles.


"He had to do more with less help. I had a lot of help," said Faulk, who in 1999 was part of a Rams offense that was called "The Greatest Show on Turf."


"And how many quarterbacks did (McCaffrey) have?" asked Faulk.


That answer, of course, was three: Cam Newton, Kyle Allen and Will Grier. In 1999, Faulk had just one quarterback, and all Kurt Warner did that year was throw for 41 touchdowns while winning the MVP award and the Super Bowl.