Sean Payton has been studying Christian McCaffrey since before the running back was drafted, and the Denver Broncos head coach knows exactly what he’s up against this week. Asked about the San Francisco 49ers star ahead of Sunday’s Week 4 trip to Santa Clara, Payton went straight to one word. “He’s got those Joker traits,” Payton said Wednesday.
In coaching terms, a “joker” is a player who can line up anywhere and win in more than one way, and Payton made clear that’s how he sees McCaffrey. “He does so many things well,” Payton said. “And his football IQ is high. His skill set as a receiver, as a runner, all the things that you’re looking for in a good football player, but a really good running back.” The numbers back it up. McCaffrey ran for 1,202 yards and caught 102 passes for 924 more in 2025, according to NFL.com.
Sean Payton remembers McCaffrey’s draft report
Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
Payton’s history with McCaffrey goes back to the 2017 draft. “I remember the read real well,” he said. “I remember the evaluation. He was in the same class as Kamara that we took later in the third round.” Payton’s Saints landed Alvin Kamara in that third round, while McCaffrey went eighth overall to the Carolina Panthers, an NFC South rival New Orleans saw twice a year. “You’re always happy when a good player like that gets traded out of your division,” Payton said of the 2022 deal that sent McCaffrey to San Francisco.
Payton also tied McCaffrey’s move to a quarterback Denver just beat. He pointed to Matthew Stafford, whose trade to the Los Angeles Rams “really meant a lot to what he was going to be able to go on and accomplish,” and said Stafford is “going to be in Canton someday.” Payton put McCaffrey in the same category. “That opportunity that took place with Christian in San Francisco was such a great fit with Kyle,” he said, referring to 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan. “Sometimes when you get those perfect fits, it can change the career path of any given player.”
McCaffrey showed that range again last Sunday, running 15 times for 75 yards and a touchdown and adding four catches for 41 yards in a win over the Arizona Cardinals. Payton said “a lot of it goes through him” in the 49ers’ offense. That’s the challenge waiting for a Broncos defense that also has to account for Brock Purdy and George Kittle on Sunday.
