INDIANAPOLIS — There are lot of prospects at the 2024 scouting combine with NFL family ties, but it's tough to beat Luke McCaffrey when it comes to versatility with those.
His father Ed played 13 seasons in the NFL with the New York Giants and Denver Broncos; his brother Christian is the star running back for the San Francisco 49ers who was named the 2023 AP Offensive Player of the Year; and his brother Max is an offensive assistant for the Miami Dolphins.
Max McCaffrey will be going into his second season with the Dolphins after joining the staff in 2023 following three years as an assistant coach at Northern Colorado.
Luke watched both of his brothers' games as he completed his college career at Rice, and in the process gained an appreciation for what the Dolphins are doing and could see himself being able to contribute in it.
"I take a lot of pride in the versatility of my game, being able to play in the slot, out wide, being able to play Wildcat quarterback, being able to play running back," he said at the combine Friday. "Their offense has a whole lot of speed. I don't think they're hiding that. I think they do such a good job of using motions, using shifts to open up their fast players and I think (Mike) McDaniel is such a great play caller when it comes to that just the way that he can manipulate defenses in the way that they can break down a team like that. So it's a lot of fun watching."
Like every NFL prospect — or close to every one of them — Luke will be happy to be drafted by any team.
But having two brothers in the league begs the question of whether he'd prefer to play with Christian in San Francisco or be coached by Max in Miami.
"Oh, I don't know," Luke said. "I don't know. Both of them would be awesome. You know, there's a lot of cool storylines when it comes to the game of football. I'm just going to be excited to be playing football because a lot of people don't get that opportunity as you grow up, and so I'm gonna be happy wherever I land."
LUKE McCAFFREY'S COLLEGE JOURNEY AND NFL PROSPECTS
Listed at 6-2, 200, Luke McCaffrey began his college career as a quarterback at Nebraska before he transferred to Louisville (never played there) and the Rice and eventually moved to wide receiver.
He posted very good numbers as a senior in 2023 with 71 catches for 992 yards and 13 touchdowns. He is projected as a middle-round pick — his father was a third-round pick in the 1991 draft; Christian was the eighth overall pick in 2017.
"I've heard everything," Luke said about his draft status. "I've heard literally every single round from the second to undrafted and so I don't like to speculate on that. I'm living in the moment right now."
Luke said he's not only received and paid attention to advice from his father and Christian, but to Max as well and another older brother, Dylan, who played quarterback at Northern Colorado.
He called his favorite football family tradition being able to watch 49ers and Dolphins games after his own games.
"I watched my brothers' games every week," he said. "Usually watch it on Sunday and rewatch it on the Monday, whatever I can. And that's so, so cool. Watching Christian, so cool. Watching Max. He loves coaching. He's doing a great job pulling all-nighters every week. And so it's been a lot of fun to be able to follow both those pros."
And before long, Luke will be joining those ranks.
More must-reads: