San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has fielded a top-eight rushing offense in four of the last five seasons. The lead skipper’s ground attack has been a staple in his offense, which bodes well for the team’s running backs.
The Athletic’s Matt Barrows suggested that the 49ers could lighten Christian McCaffrey’s load to preserve him. If so, the team’s No. 2 running back could be a decent pickup this year.
Managers may have to wait until the end of the preseason to find out who spells McCaffrey though. Elijah Mitchell could be the guy, but he’s not a slam-dunk candidate for the position.
The 49ers selected Isaac Guerendo in the fourth round of the 2024 draft. Shanahan also mentioned Mitchell and Jordan Mason as capable fill-in starters.
“I’d say, nothing against Elijah, there’s been no fall off in Elijah at all, but JP (Mason) runs at a very high level. “I see in both of those guys, that if Christian is not in there, not going, I mean we always expect no matter who we’ve had in the past, that number two, number three, sometimes our fourth guy comes in. And if their number is called, we expect them to run like a starting back.”
