Luke McCaffrey

Valor Christian and a Nebraska Scholarship

McCaffrey played at Valor Christian High School in Colorado, as his brothers did. He led the team to a Colorado state championship in 2018 as its quarterback, according to the Commanders. He was ranked the No. 5 dual-threat quarterback in the country and the best high school recruit in the state, and he took a scholarship to Nebraska.

In his freshman season he completed 9 of 12 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns before redshirting. The 2020 season gave him real playing time: eight games, two starts, 48 of 76 passes for 466 yards, 364 rushing yards and four total touchdowns, by the team's count in a 2024 profile.

Most of his good days that year came on the ground. In his first start, against Penn State, he led Nebraska with 67 rushing yards, and he was the first Nebraska player since 2013 to win his first start. Against Illinois he accounted for 256 yards, and his 26 carries in that game were the third most by a Nebraska quarterback in program history.

Quarterback to Slot Receiver at Rice

McCaffrey transferred to Rice for the 2021 season. He began there as a quarterback and threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns. Had he stayed at the position, the Commanders later wrote, he had a chance to become the Owls' starter.

He wanted something else. He wanted to hit people and make plays all over the field, not only from the pocket, and Rice had a need at wide receiver, so his coaches gave him a try there. He moved to receiver for good in 2022.

"I had a lot of fun," he told Bryan Colbert Jr. on the team podcast Raising Hail with the Rookies. "I think it kind of took a weight off my shoulders."

He said his first season at the new position went mostly into basics: route running and getting off press coverage. Film study carried over from quarterback. "Because you speak the same language as a quarterback or the same language as a coordinator," he said. "That's probably the biggest thing I've been able to take from my quarterback days."

71 Catches and 13 Touchdowns in 2023

In 2022, his first year at receiver, McCaffrey caught 58 passes for 723 yards and six touchdowns and led Rice in all-purpose yards. His teammates voted him the team's MVP.

In 2023 he caught 71 passes for 992 yards and 13 touchdowns. He led the American Athletic Conference in receiving touchdowns and was named first-team All-AAC, NFL.com noted. The 13 touchdowns rank fifth in a single season at Rice. Across his two receiving seasons, his 19 touchdowns rank third in school history and his 1,686 yards rank eighth.

At the 2024 Scouting Combine he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds, two hundredths faster than Christian ran it in 2017. The brothers posted the same broad jump, 10 feet 1 inch, and the same 10-yard split, 1.52 seconds. Christian, three inches shorter, had the better vertical jump and three-cone drill. Luke ran the 20-yard shuttle in 4.02 seconds to Christian's 4.22.

Pick 100 in Detroit

Washington took McCaffrey with the 100th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, on the Friday night in Detroit. It was the last pick of the third round and the Commanders' fifth selection of the day, a day after they took Jayden Daniels second overall.

General manager Adam Peters had been part of the 49ers front office that traded for Christian McCaffrey. Explaining the pick, he pointed to the position change. "He took a road less traveled where he started off as a quarterback and really taught himself how to be one of the best receivers in the country in the last two years," Peters said. "And so he's got size, he's got speed, he's got great movement skills, and I think he's only going to ascend."

The Commanders signed him to his rookie deal on May 10, 2024. Spotrac lists the terms as four years and $5,596,312, with an $890,044 signing bonus and $890,044 guaranteed. That works out to an average of $1,399,078 a year. For 2026 the site lists a base salary of $1,263,756 and a workout bonus of $50,880.

Three Seasons in Washington

That first spring he arrived at the team facility at 5:45 a.m. to get extra work with Daniels, the team wrote in June 2024. As a rookie he played in 17 games and caught 18 passes for 168 yards.

His second season was shorter and more productive per catch. In nine games in 2025 he caught 11 passes for 203 yards, an average of 18.4 yards, and scored his first three NFL touchdowns. Through October 2026 the Commanders list him at 6 feet 2 inches and 195 pounds, with career totals of 29 games, 29 receptions and 371 yards.

Ed McCaffrey's Fourth Son

His father, Ed McCaffrey, was drafted 83rd overall by the New York Giants in 1991 and played 13 NFL seasons: three with the Giants, a short stint with the 49ers and nine with the Denver Broncos. He caught 565 passes for 7,422 yards and 55 touchdowns and made the Pro Bowl in 1998. Ed also played receiver, the position Luke turned to at Rice. His mother ran track and played tennis in high school and played soccer at Stanford for three seasons.

Luke is the youngest of four brothers. Christian, a first-round pick in 2017, is a Pro Bowl running back with the 49ers. Max went undrafted and spent short stretches in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the 49ers. Dylan played quarterback for two seasons at Michigan before transferring to Northern Colorado.

Sources

• Commanders-49ers on 'Monday Night Football': What We Learned from San Francisco's 23-17 win | Latest NFL News, Analysis & Updates | NFL.com
• Luke McCaffrey
• Inside Luke McCaffrey's switch to wide receiver
• Five things to know about Luke McCaffrey
• Commanders select Rice WR Luke McCaffrey with pick No. 100 of 2024 NFL Draft | Latest NFL News, Analysis & Updates | NFL.com
• Commanders sign WR Luke McCaffrey, LB Jordan Magee, S Dominique Hampton, DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste
• Luke McCaffrey Contract, Salary & Cap Hit 2026 | Spotrac