NFL Draft 2024 Rumors: Christian McCaffrey's Brother Luke Admired 'Around the League'
March 29, 2024
Luke McCaffrey has a lot to live up to as the son of former Pro Bowler Ed McCaffrey and brother of San Francisco 49ers star Christian McCaffrey, but he's doing a good job of making a strong impression on teams leading up to the 2024 NFL draft.
Per ESPN's Field Yates, McCaffrey is getting "a lot of love around the league" right now after a strong combine and good college tape.
It's not a surprise that McCaffrey's athletic testing indicates he has explosive acceleration. His three-cone drill of 6.7 seconds ranks in the 87th percentile and his 20-yard shuttle of 4.02 seconds ranks in the 91st percentile, per MockDraftable.com.
B/R's NFL scouting department has McCaffrey ranked as the No. 25 wide receiver and 185th-best prospect overall in the 2024 class
Another thing that shouldn't come as a surprise is where NFL.com's Chad Reuter had McCaffrey landing in his four-round mock draft that dropped on March 22. He projected the 49ers to select him in the third round with the 94th overall pick.
Yates noted McCaffrey will likely need time to develop, but he could be an early Day 3 pick. In Reuter's scenario, he would end up going late on Day 2.
Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Shanahan have talked in the past about how the 49ers head coach may have babysat for the McCaffrey family when they were kids, so it stands to reason Luke may have been around at the time.
Cam Inman @CamInman<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Panters?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Panters</a> RB Christian McCaffrey on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/49ers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#49ers</a> coach Kyle Shanahan: We go way back to when I was little. I think he babysat me some times.
The 22-year-old began his college career at Nebraska as a quarterback before transferring to Rice ahead of the 2021 season. He moved to wide receiver for his final two years with the Owls and had success.
McCaffrey caught 129 passes for 1,715 yards and 19 touchdowns in 24 games at Rice. He had a career-high 199 yards on nine catches in a 42-29 loss to South Florida on Sept. 23, 2023.
