McCaffrey vs. McElhenny

[racepug]

For you "old-timers" out there (no offense meant. I'm a 'semi'-old-timer myself): how do you compare the skill set of Christian McCaffrey to that of "The King" Hugh McElhenny? From what I've read about Hugh McElhenny the two are similar but since I never got to see Hugh McElhenny play, myself, I'm wondering what those of you who did think.

[SixtiesFan]

I saw McElhenny play on TV for the Giants in 1963. In the Week 7 game against the Browns he played a lot, and scored on a screen pass faking several Giants out. In other games you would occasionally see flashes of his old form.

In the 1963 championship game against the Bears, McElhenny played almost all of the second half. The Giants were ahead 10-7 at halftime. McElhenny broke free with the second half kickoff but ran out of gas and was caught around midfield. The young Hugh McElhenny would have gone all the way and put the Giants up 17-7 and they would probably have won. But he was near his 35th birthday and was an old player hanging on.

FWIW McCaffrey seems faster in straight ahead speed while McElhenny had out of this world moves and fakes, along with being a good receiver. In the second half of the 1957 season and the whole 1959 season McElhenny played a wide out.

Christian McCaffrey so far this year is having a season like Marshall Faulk.

[Brian wolf]

McCaffrey is the right fit for the Niners but was injury prone and didnt seem to want to play alot his last two seasons with Carolina.
I never questioned the King because I missed out seeing his greatness ...

[rhickok1109]

I saw McElhenny play on TV for the Giants in 1963. In the Week 7 game against the Browns he played a lot, and scored on a screen pass faking several Giants out. In other games you would occasionally see flashes of his old form.

In the 1963 championship game against the Bears, McElhenny played almost all of the second half. The Giants were ahead 10-7 at halftime. McElhenny broke free with the second half kickoff but ran out of gas and was caught around midfield. The young Hugh McElhenny would have gone all the way and put the Giants up 17-7 and they would probably have won. But he was near his 35th birthday and was an old player hanging on.

FWIW McCaffrey seems faster in straight ahead speed while McElhenny had out of this world moves and fakes, along with being a good receiver. In the second half of the 1957 season and the whole 1959 season McElhenny played a wide out.

Christian McCaffrey so far this year is having a season like Marshall Faulk.

I don't think McCaffrey is faster than McElhenny, who ran 9.8 in the 100-yard dash while still in high school.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

The highlights I've seen of McElhenny - he looks like Barry Sanders in the open field. I'm not sure I've been so impressed with someone in terms of their open-field ability.

[rhickok1109]

The highlights I've seen of McElhenny - he looks like Barry Sanders in the open field. I'm not sure I've been so impressed with someone in terms of their open-field ability.

McElhenny was the best open-field runner I ever saw until Sayers came long.

He was fast, could cut in either direction on a dime, and was strong enough to break tackles. He also had incredible peripheral vision. I remember an article in some general-circulation magazine--perhaps Life or Look--that said he had been tested by an eye doctor and his peripheral vision was the maximum possible, something like 210 degrees.

[Cali_Eagle]

The highlights I've seen of McElhenny - he looks like Barry Sanders in the open field. I'm not sure I've been so impressed with someone in terms of their open-field ability.

McElhenny was the best open-field runner I ever saw until Sayers came long.

He was fast, could cut in either direction on a dime, and was strong enough to break tackles. He also had incredible peripheral vision. I remember an article in some general-circulation magazine--perhaps Life or Look--that said he had been tested by an eye doctor and his peripheral vision was the maximum possible, something like 210 degrees.

I remember marveling at O.J. Simpson's ability to cutback without slowing down or stopping, at least to what the eye could pick up.

[SixtiesFan]

I saw McElhenny play on TV for the Giants in 1963. In the Week 7 game against the Browns he played a lot, and scored on a screen pass faking several Giants out. In other games you would occasionally see flashes of his old form.

In the 1963 championship game against the Bears, McElhenny played almost all of the second half. The Giants were ahead 10-7 at halftime. McElhenny broke free with the second half kickoff but ran out of gas and was caught around midfield. The young Hugh McElhenny would have gone all the way and put the Giants up 17-7 and they would probably have won. But he was near his 35th birthday and was an old player hanging on.

FWIW McCaffrey seems faster in straight ahead speed while McElhenny had out of this world moves and fakes, along with being a good receiver. In the second half of the 1957 season and the whole 1959 season McElhenny played a wide out.

Christian McCaffrey so far this year is having a season like Marshall Faulk.

I don't think McCaffrey is faster than McElhenny, who ran 9.8 in the 100-yard dash while still in high school.

I didn't say McCaffrey was faster than MCElhenny, just "seemed faster." There's no way of knowing. McElhenny didn't run the sprints in high school or at Compton JC, only the hurdles. His high school time in the high hurdles of 14.0 set an interscholastic record.

There is a 2021 book by 49er fan Martin S. Jacobs titled "The KIng." He wrote: "He didn't run sprints, but from his hurdle times, it was estimated he was equal of a 9.7 sprinter over 100-yards. Hugh trained as a decathlete for the 1948 Olympic games in London, but was out-beaten by Bob Mathias of Tulare high School, who went on to win the Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal in 1948." McElhenny said he was "physically exhausted."

At the NFL Combine Christian McCaffrey was timed at 4:48 for 40 yards according to Wikipedia.

[rhickok1109]

Well, this newspaper source says he "does the 100 in 9.8."

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=j ... %2C2516127

[racepug]

I just found this: https://www.milesplit.com/calc

I plugged in 100 yard dash run in 9.8 seconds

Try it yourself to see what it says that converts to as a 40 yard dash*

*first convert the 100y time to 100 meters. Going straight to 40 yard time from 100y time yields only "40 yard pace" which, apparently, isn't the same thing as "40 yard time."