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Film Breakdown: What to expect from the 49ers running backs for the rest of the season

December 4, 2024 by Niners Nation

San Francisco 49ers v Buffalo Bills
Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images

Breaking down 49ers RB Isaac Guerendo and the newly signed Israel Abanikanda to see what they bring to the table for the Niners for the rest of the year.

The San Francisco 49ers claimed former New York Jets running back Israel Abanikanda off waivers Tuesday. That move was by necessity, as the Niners will likely be without their top two running backs for the rest of the season.

We found out that Christian McCaffrey cannot be replaced. We are going to find out how valuable Jordan Mason was.

Mason was one of the league-leading rushers in the NFL and kept the 49ers offense afloat during McCaffrey’s absence. He had three games over 100 yards in the first month of the season. Mason’s numbers took a dip as the season went along after battling a shoulder injury. Still, his toughness gave the Niners an identity and forced opposing defenses to respect the 49ers on the ground.

Rookie Isaac Guerendo will take over as the leadback. He’s had two games this season with 10+ carries. To his credit, Guerendo’s had enough success to give the coaching staff hope that he can be a workhorse.

Guerendo is averaging 4.9 yards after contact, and thanks to a couple of explosive gains, 6.4 yards off tackle and 6.6 yards outside the tackles. He will need to improve between the tackles so the 49ers can maintain their balance. Guerendo has only managed 1.8 yards per rush in between the tackles. But he’s done a great job generating first downs when given the opportunity.

Here’s a look at all 42 attempts from Guerendo this season. You can see that he had a tendency to be in too much of a hurry early on in the season and ended up running up the backs of his offensive line and missing potential cutback lanes.

As the season progressed, Guerendo got more comfortable and even looked stronger. The 49ers hope that Guerendo can be more consistent on a down-to-down basis but won’t turn down his long runs.

One of Guerendo’s best traits on the carries he did make it beyond the line of scrimmage was his ability to fall forward.

Mason had 153 attempts. Of those, 109 were zone carries, and 42 were gap runs. McCaffrey’s split was 36/12 in favor of zone. Guerendo’s splits are 30/10. So, the 49ers will have to find different ways to get creative so they aren’t only running zone concepts. Or, Shanahan will have to use even more motion or pre-snap eye candy to try and get the numbers advantage.

Can Izzy crack the lineup?

Abanikanda was buried on the depth chart behind Breece Hall and Braelon Allen. There weren’t carries for him to go around. I’m not saying he’s going to be the next Raheem Mostert, but we’ve seen ample examples in the NFL of a player making the most of his opportunity.

Abanikanda did not play behind a good offensive line in 2023, and his quarterback was Trevor Siemien in most games. So his stat line is a bit misleading. Here’s a look at all of his carries from last year with the Jets:

He’s coming into a much better situation, and if you are an avid college football watcher, you know all about “Izzy” from his days at the University of Pittsburgh.

Patrick Taylor doesn’t have the same type of explosion as Guerendo or Izzy, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the newest running back be the second back up to spell Guerendo. Taylor is more of the third-down, pass-protecting type. He’ll be needed, but mostly on passing downs.

Filed Under: 49'ers

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