San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch spoke with Rich Eisen this week and discussed several topics. Lynch is coming off of his second draft with the 49ers. Both he and head coach Kyle Shanahan were signed to six-year contracts last year and trusted to spearhead the team's rebuild.
Part of that rebuild was the offseason signing of running back Jerick McKinnon at the start of free agency in March. There were some concerns among the media about his smaller frame and ability to be an every-down back for the team. McKinnon shared snaps with Latavius Murray in Minnesota last year. The duo made up one of the best running back tandems in the NFL and helped the Vikings become the seventh-best rushing offense in the league.
Eisen asked Lynch what McKinnon brings to the 49ers offense and what the unit might look like in 2018.
"I think it's going to be pretty dynamic," Lynch responded. "I think we get Pierre Garçon back. Marquise Goodwin, we re-signed and extended him out, and he really came out and flourished. Before, he had just been a speed guy, but he showed he could be more than that. Pierre was playing great football before he got hurt.
"You throw Jerick McKinnon in there, you throw Kyle Juszczyk, who we really figured out how to use. I think what we have, Trent Taylor in the slot, now Dante Pettis is a guy who we're extremely high on as a receiver, as a punt returner, Mike McGlinchey is thrown in there. We get guys back who were injured last year.
"I just think there's a lot of explosive players and one think Kyle does tremendously well, I think he puts guys in positions and defenders in positions where they have tough matchup problems. I think McKinnon is another guy who can provide matchup problems for opposing defenses. When we have those guys all over the field, it's going to be tough to deal with. So we're excited about that.
"And I think the cool thing about Jerick, even though he's a smaller guy and a fast guy, he plays big. We had some level of concern when we first started looking at him because we let Carlos Hyde walk in free agency. We kind of had a cool thing with Carlos being the bigger back, and Matt Breida and other guys being that smaller guy. And Jerick, although small in stature, he plays big. He plays like a bigger back. We think he can kind of be an every-down back as well. We're excited about him."
Lynch was also asked about linebacker Reuben Foster's legal situation. The 49ers general manager has discussed Foster to a point. While the team wants to let the legal process play itself out, Foster has not been at the team's facilities since being formally charged by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
Foster faces charges of domestic violence with an allegation that he inflicted great bodily injury, forcefully attempting to prevent a victim from reporting a crime, and possession of an assault weapon, all of which stem from a February 11 incident with his then-live-in girlfriend, Elissa Ennis.
Ennis had initially told responding sheriff's deputies and Los Gatos police that Foster had dragged her by the hair, physically thrown her out of the house, and punched her repeatedly, according to a news release by the DA's office.
Ennis has since retracted her statement saying that Foster is innocent and that her bruises and ruptured eardrum were a result of a physical fight with another woman, not the 49ers linebacker. She also claims to have video evidence of that altercation, which might be vital in clearing Foster's name.
"We eagerly await the developments as this case proceeds or whatever happens in the case," Lynch told Eisen. "That's where we are with him."
Lynch says he and the 49ers have been in contact with Foster throughout the process.
"Reuben's still a part of this team even though he's not working out with us," he continued. "We're not supposed to, as a team, investigate these things. We do gather some level of information. I think we've taken the appropriate action for the information we have right now and will continue to do that."