49ers' Trey Lance Says Christian McCaffrey Has 'Quickly Grown into a Great Leader'

Christian McCaffrey made a great first impression in San Francisco after the 49ers acquired him in a trade with the Carolina Panthers last season, rushing for 746 yards and six touchdowns in 11 games while adding 52 catches for 464 yards and another four scores.

But he's also impressed his teammates off the field.

"He sets the standard," quarterback Trey Lance told reporters Monday. "He's quickly grown into a great leader in our locker room, and I think a lot of guys had a feeling that that would happen pretty quickly just based on who he is."

The versatile and talented McCaffrey always felt like a great fit in Kyle Shanahan's offense, and a full season of him, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle is going to give opponents headaches.

Expectations are high for McCaffrey now that he'll have a full training camp to take in the team's system.

"I'm just trying to learn as much as possible," he said Monday. "It's nice to be able to start from square one and getting right with [running backs] coach [Bobby] Turner and making sure it's not just learning the plays but learning every single detail of the positions."

That familiarity will be great news for the Niners. Not so much for NFL defenses, however.