Jordan James is a pick to get the 49er running game back on schedule

The 49ers added a running back in the 2025 NFL Draft who lacks explosive traits, but offers the consistency their ground game lacked.

We all knew he would do it at some stage. Kyle Shanahan wasn’t going to go through one of the deepest running back drafts of recent memory without snagging one for himself, and he did so in the fifth round with the selection of Oregon’s Jordan James with the 147th overall pick.

Unlike last year, it wasn’t a move that required a trade up, as the 49ers vaulted back into the fourth round in 2024 to take Isaac Guerendo. And it wasn’t a bet on athleticism.

Whereas Guerendo was by far the most athletically gifted back in the 2024 class – and showed that athleticism as a rookie with a game-clinching long run in Seattle and a preseason kickoff return TD among several highlights – James posted a Relative Athletic Score of just 4.65 out of 10 for his pre-draft testing.

Picking a back without elite athletic traits in a league where the second-level defenders are getting smaller and faster might raise a few eyebrows, but the decision to select James is a move to get the 49er running game back on schedule after an underwhelming 2024 in terms of efficiency.

While Jordan Mason shone when healthy and Guerendo displayed flashes of his undoubted promise, the 49er running game took a step back efficiency-wise with Christian McCaffrey on the shelf for much of the year.

In 2023, his Offensive Player of the Year-winning season, McCaffrey was seventh among all qualifying running backs in Success Rate, gaining the required yardage on 54% of his carries, well above the league average of 47.7% for all qualifying runners.

Last season, the league average jumped to 49.6% and Patrick Taylor Jr. – who only had 39 rush attempts – was the sole 49er back above it on 53.8%.

Guerendo’s Success Rate was 47.6%, with Mason on 47.1% and McCaffrey on 44%.

To his credit, Guerendo ranked eighth in Expected Points Added per rush among backs with at least 50 attempts last season, illustrating the explosive play ability for which the 49ers brought him in.

The hope will be that a return to health for McCaffrey brings a return to the down-to-down consistency to which the 49ers had previously been accustomed. However, McCaffrey’s health is far from a guarantee and, while he will likely continue to be the bell cow, there needs to be an acceptance that it isn’t practical for the 49ers to lean on him as much as they did in 2023 and expect his body to hold up.

James is an insurance policy in that sense, joining the 49ers as a back who – despite some athletic shortcomings – can keep the running game on schedule by consistently getting the required yardage.

Indeed, James’ 57% success rate in his final year at Oregon led all running backs. On top of that, he ranked second among backs in this draft class in positive play rate, with 58% of his rushes resulting in positive EPA, per Sports Info Solutions.

Only 12 of his rushes went for 15 yards or more, a number perhaps reflective of below-average athleticism, yet he still ranked tied fifth in the class with Cam Skattebo in EPA per rush. He did so in part because he ranked tied 10th in the FBS in the number of his rushes that went for 10-plus yards. James had 39 such rushes, tied with 49ers undrafted free agent signing Corey Kiner.

And the tape is that of a back who plays a touch faster than his testing numbers indicate.

James is far from a speed back, but he has enough to get to the edge and possesses an evident second gear when bursting through the hole to the second level. It is most readily apparent on outside zone runs, but the standout traits are the ones that allow James to consistently avoid negative runs even when defenses successfully take away running lanes.

He boasts impressive vision and reads his blocks well, his ability to get skinny through the running lane a key reason why – in addition to posting a 54% positive play rate on zone runs, ranking fifth – he also ranked tied second in the class on gap scheme runs with a positive play rate of 61%.

James doesn’t have elite lateral quickness, but he changes direction in an intelligent manner, combining that skill with his vision to shift into new gaps when his intended running lane is filled by a defender to avoid run stuffs. That useful blend of traits is complemented by contact balance to gain extra yardage, with James also boasting a spin move and a nasty stiff arm to aid his cause in gaining yards after contact.

An impressive goal-line back, as evidenced by his 15 touchdowns last year, James excels at keeping his pads low on rushes in the low red zone, maintaining leg drive through to the end of play and almost always falling forward to cap off his runs.

The lack of top-end explosiveness theoretically limits James’ upside. Yet, as a runner who excels at using his tools to get what is required and who has shown the ability to shine regardless of the blocking scheme, James is the kind of high-floor prospect who can help ensure the 49er run game maintains its efficiency even if McCaffrey has more injury issues in 2025.

San Francisco hasn’t lacked for explosive runners for a long time, but the issue last year was consistency. If James can make sure the run game is consistently efficient in the instances where McCaffrey is not on the field, then his selection will very quickly start to look like a very astute pick.