Many figured the San Francisco 49ers would draft a running back at some point after losing Brian Robinson Jr. in free agency. Christian McCaffrey was the bell cow last season. After leading the NFL in touches in 2023 and 2025, the odds are against McCaffrey to make it through another season fully healthy.
The 49ers have consistently drafted running backs since 2021. Now, they haven’t done a good job identifying players with NFL traits, which is why it happens annually. Take Isaac Guerendo, for example. Nobody questioned Guerendo’s speed, but the fact that he couldn’t step onto the field during his second season speaks volumes.
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Jordan James didn’t play because he was injured early and fell behind the 8-ball. The only NFL reps the team has of James are in a blowout playoff game. James will likely compete with third-round pick Kaelon Black, who the Niners drafted this past weekend.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about his opinion of Black, what he saw from him, and how he pictures Black in the 49ers offense: “It always starts with me with just who’s the most natural running back. I love third-down backs, all the pass game stuff that people can bring, but when it just comes to running the ball, you need to have more than one starter. We’ve gone through a number of years here where we’ve been through at least four backs. Last year was one of the abnormal years where, and it was awesome, but our starting back was able to stay healthy.”
The 49ers using McCaffrey as much as they did last season likely says just as much about Robinson Jr. McCaffrey had 311 attempts, but couldn’t crack four yards per carry. You can’t talk about CMC without mentioning his production in the passing game. But it goes without saying that the 49ers need to shave about 100 touches off McCaffrey’s workload.
Shanahan continued, “Usually, it happens a lot, where it’s not just the one, it’s the two. We’ve gone through four a number of times, and so, what he could do as a true starting running back is what I liked. If you ever had to give him more carries, could he hit the right hole? Can he move the chains when you only block it for three? Can he get five? The physicality he ran with, how he broke tackles when he did get into space, how he didn’t sit there and stutter his feet, he just broke to open spots and got yards.”
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That’s an accurate description of Black. We’ll break him down this week, but if there were plays when the offensive line didn’t block somebody up front, Black had the speed to outrun the defender and turn a negative into a positive. As he hit the turbo button through the line of scrimmage, he’d reach top speed instantly and run through arm tackles. It’s full speed all of the time with Black, even in pass protection.
Black’s performance at his pro day was the cherry on top: “And then what he did at his pro day. When you see a tough, hard-nosed runner who ends up running the 40 that he did(4.45), to know what else is in his body for more explosiveness and stuff like that. You know, they didn’t throw him the ball a lot, but when you watch his Senior Bowl, you watch his older tape from his other school, and you see that he has the skillset that you can really develop, and you’ve got a guy you can win with.”
Here’s a clip of Black running routes at the Senior Bowl:
