It’s important for the San Francisco 49ers to have a good backup running back.
Why? Because starter Christian McCaffrey gets injured a lot.
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The 49ers took a step back in this regard when they traded Jordan Mason to the Minnesota Vikings this offseason.
The assumption by many is that second-year back Isaac Guerendo will slide right in behind CMC on the depth chart. Guerendo is an explosive back who can turn one carry into a bunch of yards in a hurry.
SI’s Grant Cohn says to not jump to conclusions, though.
The 49ers also picked Jordan James in the fifth round out of Oregon, and Cohn is a fan.
“At this point in McCaffrey’s career, he needs to split carries with someone who can pick up the tough yards, and that’s James, not Guerendo,” Cohn wrote. “Don’t be surprised if James is the 49ers’ backup running back this year.”
That’d be a pretty unexpected twist.
If James wins the job, it would spell a tough step in Guerendo’s career, after he was set to make the logical move up to the RB2 spot in his second year.
We did see last year how the 49ers couldn’t even keep their backup RBs healthy, though, so there might wind up being enough carries to go around for everyone.