The play felt all too familiar. Swap the jersey, change the number and tack on a few inches in height, and that receiver with “McCaffrey” on his back might as well have been Ed, the former 49er and Bronco once dubbed “White Lightning” because of his speed and toughness as a wideout.
But on this night, the McCaffrey wearing No. 11 was Luke, Ed’s youngest of four sons, whose 50-yard catch against the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday was another highlight in his growing reel of big plays. Luke followed his father’s footsteps to become an NFL receiver — one who has begun to show off speed and tenacity for the Washington Commanders.
Jayden connects on a deep ball to Luke McCaffrey!
WASvsLAC on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/Fzk0ycZbdc
— NFL (@NFL) October 5, 2025
Selected in the third round of the 2024 draft, Luke McCaffrey arrived in Washington with only two years of experience at receiver after spending most of his upbringing and early collegiate career at quarterback. Year 1 for him was largely a developmental test run as fellow rookie Jayden Daniels turned the Commanders’ offense into a scoring machine.
Year 2, however, has so far been a head-turner for McCaffrey, as both a receiver and kickoff returner. His 523 combined receiving and return yards are the 10th most in the NFL through Week 5, while his 31.4-yard kickoff return average ranks third among players with at least six returns.
“He’s a playmaker, man,” said Christian McCaffrey, Luke’s older brother and the 49ers’ All-Pro running back. “He’s, as I like to call him, just a football player. That catch was an example of that — a big situation and the team needed a play. We’ve seen that countless times from him.”
The speed, they all say, comes from Ed’s wife, Lisa, a former standout soccer player at Stanford. The love of the game was passed down from Ed.
Luke is the third McCaffrey in the NFL now, joining his eldest brother, Max McCaffrey, a former receiver who is now the assistant quarterbacks coach for the Miami Dolphins, and Christian, the superstar of the family whose accolades grow each season. Dylan McCaffrey, the third-oldest son, starred at quarterback for the University of Michigan and was Luke’s quarterback for two seasons in high school.
That was the only time Luke dabbled at positions other than quarterback. He was a four-star recruit coming out of Valor Christian High in Colorado and committed to Nebraska over multiple Power 5 programs, including Ohio State, Michigan and Ole Miss.
Luke McCaffrey began his college career at Nebraska, where he played quarterback. (Steven Branscombe / Getty Images)
He redshirted his freshman season, then was beaten out by Adrian Martinez for the starting job in 2020. McCaffrey entered the transfer portal at season’s end and committed to Louisville, but transferred again months later when it became clear he would not start for the Cardinals. He arrived at Rice in 2021 and again competed for the starting job at quarterback. After nine games and three starts, he decided another change was needed — but not the school.
He asked to switch to receiver.
“For me, I really saw a difference in Luke when he came back,” said former Rice receivers coach Mike Kershaw, who is now the GM at Kennesaw State. “I think when he came in initially to take over the program to kind of be the so-called savior of the program by being the quarterback, he just had a lot of pressure on his shoulders. Not to say that it weighed him down, but once he decided to make that change, he could just go be a football player, and I think that’s what he loved doing.”
But McCaffrey’s minimal experience at the position posed a new challenge to Kershaw. Hence, they started from the beginning, spending hours poring over game film of roughly 15 receivers who had a similar body size to McCaffrey. Cooper Kupp was the lead comp.
“There are a lot of great, athletic quarterbacks who can’t catch,” Kershaw said. “So you’re like, ‘Well, I hope he can catch.’ Obviously, that wasn’t a problem. … He probably burned out the JUGS machines at Rice several times because he was using them so much.”
Luke had about six months to morph into a receiver when most wideouts his age had years of experience learning the nuances of the position. His primary advantage, however, was his family.
“My dad helped a lot, my brother Max helped a lot,” Luke McCaffrey said. “I think they’ve been super instrumental. I mean, that’s the biggest blessing that I never earned.”
McCaffrey finished the 2022 season at Rice with 723 receiving yards and six touchdowns off a team-high 58 catches. The following season, he was voted first-team all American Athletic Conference after recording 992 receiving yards and a conference-best 13 touchdowns. He was also a team captain.
“I still think he could have had a lot of success at quarterback if he stuck with it,” said Ed, who is now the head of McCaffrey Brands, the family’s specialty foods company. “Not everybody has incredible success at the collegiate level early, like freshman or sophomore year. I think he still could’ve had success at that position, but it was his decision. He was very happy that he made it and he got on the field and had a great year. I don’t think he regrets it.”
Adam Peters was an executive with the 49ers when they signed Max in 2017 and traded for Christian in 2022. Drafting Luke with the 100th overall pick in 2024 was among Peters’ earliest decisions as the Commanders’ general manager, and it was based primarily on upside.
Luke had a lot of it — more than he had proven skill at receiver. But he had the speed — he clocked in a hair faster than Christian in the 40 at the NFL combine — and a bevy of contested catches at Rice, proving he could take hits and give out some himself. Combined with his background as a quarterback, Commanders coach Dan Quinn believed Luke would be a good fit at kickoff returner when running back Austin Ekeler went down with a concussion late last season.
But McCaffrey’s play on offense required more polish, more expedited learning to keep up with those at the highest level.
Following his rookie year, Luke spent the entire offseason with Christian. They spent a month in Los Angeles with Falcons running back Bijan Robinson, and put in time in Charlotte, where Luke also connected with veteran receiver Adam Thielen.
“He let me come to his house and watch some film,” Luke said. “ … We had a similar person who does some treatment and stuff like that and he was like, ‘Oh, I’d love to connect you guys.’ So I reached out and asked him. He’s an incredible person. Super nice of him to let me do that.”
By the end of the offseason, Christian noticed significant changes in his younger brother. The biggest difference?
“Well, it sounds weird, but speed, size and strength,” Christian said. “I think when you play quarterback your whole life, you train a certain way and you’re not really getting much stronger. It’s all about mechanics. It’s all about throwing. You have to limit how much upper body you do, and when you do upper body, it’s very specific. And so this is the first real offseason he’s had being able to work with a real sprint coach and a real strength and conditioning coach and treatment and all these other things, and to see just the way his body changed over the offseason was awesome. … He was putting more force into the ground, he was getting faster, getting stronger.”
The Commanders’ coaches noticed too, with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury describing his overall play as “night and day” different.
The Commanders wanted McCaffrey to become a more technical route runner. They wanted him to work on his releases and to become a better blocker. They also wanted him to learn to be not just a slot receiver, but a backup who could play all five receiver positions.
“Just doing everything he can do to continue to evolve as a complete receiver,” receivers coach Bobby Engram said. “I thought he absolutely attacked it.”
In camp, while starter Terry McLaurin held out because of his contract stalemate and Noah Brown recovered from a knee injury, McCaffrey took most of the first-team reps, moving all over the line. There were mistakes, but that was expected. The goal was to push McCaffrey to expand his repertoire and comfort level.
The results were evident as early as Week 1.
It was McCaffrey who had the pin block on Deebo Samuel’s first touchdown as a Commander in the season opener against the Giants.
By Week 3, McCaffrey caught his first touchdown, only to get his second the following week.
Luke McCaffrey scored touchdowns in two consecutive weeks, the second on a short catch against the Atlanta Falcons. (Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
But what impressed Quinn the most were successive hustle plays.
Shortly after his 5-yard touchdown catch in Atlanta, McCaffrey was in on a tackle as part of the Commanders’ kickoff coverage team. Quinn recognized him in Washington’s special teams meeting the next day.
“I think that speaks to him as the competitor,” Quinn said.
The following week, against the Chargers, McCaffrey had his 50-yard catch up the middle to give the offense a jolt shortly before halftime. Midway through the next quarter, he made a key block that helped clear a lane for running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt on a 27-yard run.
Quinn, again, highlighted McCaffrey in the team’s meeting the next day.
“One of the big things I said when I switched positions to myself is I just want to be a football player,” Luke said. “At quarterback, you’re not really a football player through and through. You’re more of a scientist. But a big thing for me was just being able to go run, be able to hit people, be able to do all that stuff that a football player does.”