[DC 86]

I think it's more germane to compare our use of Love this year against McCaffrey last year and other recent Stanford RBs than against the Niners with Montana at QB.

McCaffrey is a great route runner with great hands and great moves after the catch. He could start at either RB or WR in the NFL as a rookie. So when we had him we took advantage of those skills.

Love presumably isn't so outstanding as a receiver and so we're using him more like we usually use RBs. He isn't necessarily bad at catching the ball out of the backfield; it just isn't the most effective way to use him. Instead we tend to keep him in for blitz pickup on passing downs and throw the ball to receivers.

Exactly. McCaffrey averaged over three catches per game last year and his quarterbacks were Ryan Burns and Keller Chryst, not Joe Montana and Steve Young, so our use of Love primarily as a runner appears to be an attempt to optimize his talents rather than an inability of our quarterbacks to complete the necessary throws.

[DC 86]

I think it's more germane to compare our use of Love this year against McCaffrey last year and other recent Stanford RBs than against the Niners with Montana at QB.

McCaffrey is a great route runner with great hands and great moves after the catch. He could start at either RB or WR in the NFL as a rookie. So when we had him we took advantage of those skills.

Love presumably isn't so outstanding as a receiver and so we're using him more like we usually use RBs. He isn't necessarily bad at catching the ball out of the backfield; it just isn't the most effective way to use him. Instead we tend to keep him in for blitz pickup on passing downs and throw the ball to receivers.

Exactly. McCaffrey averaged over three catches per game last year and his quarterbacks were Ryan Burns and Keller Chryst, not Joe Montana and Steve Young, so our use of Love primarily as a runner appears to be an attempt to optimize his talents rather than an inability of our quarterbacks to complete the necessary throws.