The 49ers drafted Jordan James, but another new member of the backfield could also crack the roster.
It’s no secret that the 49ers have had a lot of success with undrafted free agent running backs in the Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch era. From Matt Breida and Raheem Mostert to Jeff Wilson Jr. and Jordan Mason, San Francisco has consistently gotten backfield production from backs who were afterthoughts in the draft process.
They parlayed Mason’s impressive 2024 season in relief of the injured Christian McCaffrey into a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 sixth-rounder as he was traded to the Minnesota Vikings.
The decision to move on from Mason was likely made easier by the level of running back talent available in the draft. The 49ers, having traded up for Isaac Guerendo last year, selected Jordan James out of Oregon in the fifth round.
James will almost certainly serve as the third back behind McCaffrey and Guerendo, but there is a clear opportunity for the 49ers’ latest UDFA running back to crack the roster.
The 49ers signed Cincinnati running back Corey Kiner to a contract after the draft, giving him a three-year, $2.99 million contract with $255,000 guaranteed
It is not a perfect comparison, but Kiner’s skill set compares well to that of Mason. At just over 5ft 8in and 208 pounds, he is both smaller and lighter than Mason, but Kiner is a powerful, one-cut runner whose decisiveness makes him a good fit for both zone and gap schemes.
While far from a speed back, Kiner possesses impressive burst to the second level when he hits the hole, with that same initial explosiveness allowing him to get around the edge on outside zone rushes.
Kiner isn’t an overly elusive runner, though he has the lateral quickness to change direction and sporadically make defenders miss. His selling point is yardage after contact.
He averaged 3.8 yards after contact per attempt in 2024, ranked ninth among the 30 backs tracked by Sports Info Solutions for the 2025 draft.
Kiner is a back with tremendous contact balance, one who can stay on his feet through arm tackles and meet defenders in the hole and send them to the turf. Simply put, he is a back who could be an asset to the 49ers in giving them another option to wear down defenses and take some of the strain off McCaffrey after his injury-hit 2024.
And he has a clear potential path to making the 53-man roster.
It seems likely the 49ers will look to carry four backs on the depth chart. As such, Kiner will be competing with Patrick Taylor Jr. and Israel Abanikanda for that fourth spot.
Taylor was reliable enough when injuries pressed him into service on offense late in the 2024 season, averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Though Taylor is useful on special teams, he is not so impactful in that area that the 49ers should have any qualms about moving on from a player who has just $300,000 in guaranteed money attached to his deal if Kiner outshines him. The 49ers would save $730,000 by cutting Taylor.
Abanikanda, meanwhile, did not play a single snap for the 49ers after they claimed him off waivers from the New York Jets in December. At 22, he is younger than the 23-year-old Kiner and came into the league well-versed in zone-scheme running from his time at Pitt.
Still, Abanikanda has no guaranteed money left on his deal and the 49ers would save over $1 million against the cap by moving on from him.
The hurdles to Kiner becoming the 49ers’ latest UDFA back to make the roster are not significant ones and, from a financial perspective, it is in San Francisco’s interest for him to win out over Taylor and Abanikanda.
His frame is different, but in Kiner the 49ers might have found their next Jordan Mason. Kiner just needs a strong training camp and preseason to prove he is worthy of such a billing.