Phoebe Schecter: How Tyreek Hill, Christian McCaffrey and AJ Brown trades changed the Super Bowl race | NFL News

Sky Sports NFL’s highlights the impact of Christian McCaffrey, AJ Brown and Tyreek Hill since joining the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins, respectively; watch the Dolphins face the Kansas City Chiefs in Frankfurt live on Sky Sports this Sunday

Tyreek Hill, Christian McCaffrey, AJ Brown

Between them, Tyreek Hill, Christian McCaffrey and AJ Brown have played transformative roles in the Super Bowl aspirations of their respective teams. In her latest column, Sky Sports NFL’s Phoebe Schecter explores the impact of three of the most significant trades in recent years…

Hill has just surpassed 1,000 yards through the first eight games of the 2023 campaign as the NFL’s leading receiver after being traded from the Kansas City Chiefs to the Miami Dolphins in March 2022; McCaffrey spearheaded the San Francisco 49ers to the NFC Championship Game last season and is currently on a run of 17 straight games with a touchdown having arrived via a trade from the Carolina Panthers last October; Brown helped guide the Philadelphia Eagles to last season’s Super Bowl and is on an NFL record run of six successive games of 125-plus receiving yards following his trade from the Tennessee Titans in April 2022.

The three have taken on defining roles in the race to the Super Bowl…

‘McCaffrey like an old lawnmower!’

What you get with Christian McCaffrey is so many different assets. What he brings to the table has changed the game for the 49ers. You can line him up anywhere, he can be in the backfield, he can be outside and in the slot, that creates these really challenging matchups for defenses. He is a huge issue for linebackers, which is the normal matchup you would be looking for, but now if you’re forcing him out and you’re forcing a nickel corner against him, he’s going to out-physical that person.

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San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey has scored at least one touchdown in 17 consecutive games in the NFL

He is constantly creating problems wherever he is. From a defensive view, who are you going to put up against this guy? Because he is so physical when he gets the ball in his hands and he’s so fast, so twitchy. You need more than one person to bring him down. From a timing perspective, the way he and Brock Purdy have truly connected has been incredible. He’s almost like a tight end, right? He’s almost like the Travis Kelce to Patrick Mahomes.

He is really the engine for that team. Brock Purdy has leadership skills and he’s got experience but you get that ball to CMC and he is like those old school lawnmowers where you had to pull the tether to get it going. He’s got so many different skills and you can utilise them in so many different ways, and he’s only gotten better. He can run between the tackles, he can run outside, he can get you yardage no matter where he is on the field.

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On Inside the Huddle, Neil Reynolds and Jeff Reinebold discuss Christian McCaffrey’s incredible touchdown-scoring streak after joining the San Francisco 49ers last season

You will get that argument over the success of the trade if the 49ers don’t win a Super Bowl, but I don’t think anyone can deny what CMC has and can do. We’ve seen that you can’t rely on just one duo, but I do really feel like they can absolutely make a run to Super Bowl with him. They have almost done it. The reason they didn’t last year was from a quarterback perspective, essentially, and even then they almost made it that far. Bringing him on board just changes the entire organisation.

‘AJ Brown is what Hurts needed’

I still I still can’t believe the AJ Brown trade happened if I’m being honest with you, it has had such a huge impact. AJ Brown has always had this big play ability. He is so physical at the point of the football, he is a big body receiver, he’s somebody that has always been a contested catch guy, but he’s also somebody that Jalen Hurts trusts and that if he’s looking at the field and seeing whoever is matched up against AJ Brown, he is probably still going to be okay to throw the football that direction. He’s going to give you a chance and nine times out of 10 he will probably come down with it.

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Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown makes a spinning, one-handed 16-yard touchdown catch against the Washington Commanders

That kind of security has been really big. For the Eagles it’s never really just about one player, but if you’re putting all your attention on him by double teaming or bracketing AJ Brown and Hurts still throws the football, that opens up plays for other guys on the field and he does so much of that for the team. It’s been really great to see how the scheme has changed and the fact that this year I feel like the way they’re using him with a new offensive coordinator has just been awesome to see because they know they have got the guy they need to get to the Super Bowl.

How much was Hurts being critiqued for not being able to throw the football? Well, how can you give him some receivers and give him a guy that makes him better, that you can build trust with? If you’re feeling like you have to shoulder the brunt of this team, and you have to be the one that kind of gets you the success or build a success, that’s a tough place to live. But now you have a receiver who can do all that for you and you have somebody you can trust, that is what everybody desires.

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Neil Reynolds and Jeff Reinebold look at why AJ Brown is standing out for the Eagles, following a big performance against the Commanders

How Hill changed the game

Tyreek Hill is incredible. And I think he is a perfect fit with Mike McDaniel and that offensive scheme. The thing with Tyreek because of his speed, and I know we talked about it so much, but because of the speed, you’re able to run routes that most people could not run because he gets it done so much faster. So you’re able to create these new kinds of concepts, where because of his speed, the quarterback still has the same amount of time in the pocket, but Tyreek Hill gets to his point much quicker than anyone else.

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Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receiver Tyreek Hill combine for big-time score

With your natural one-on-one matchups, he’s probably never going to be manned up for the most part unless somebody is putting a lot of pressure on him at the line of scrimmage. So you’re already narrowing down your defensive scheme. We always talk about the supporting cast, you still have some of the fastest players with Jaylen Waddle and Raheem Mostert where there are so many people that have speed and can threaten you in different ways, that actually, the key to it all is ‘well what can we do to affect Tua?’

People realise they are probably not going to be able to slow these guys down much. You are going to be looking for explosive, fast, big defensive lineman or you are going to be looking at some of the fastest defensive backs that have probably never even been created yet within an NFL world.

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Neil Reynolds and Jeff Reinebold look at the importance for the game in Frankfurt for both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins

It has really changed the game in the NFL. Usually, you have your RPO (run pass option) and it is pretty much like ‘actually I can look to pass first and then we can look to run’. Even the idea of that concept seems totally foreign, but they are able to do it because of who they have. So yeah, you’re spot on. I mean, the whole game is changing, just from like all the stars aligning from head coach perspective to being healthy Tyreek Hill like it’s so cool to be able to witness and watch it every week.

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