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Somewhere among a disastrous 2016 season for the San Francisco 49ers, running back
Carlos Hyde is having the best season of his career. The 49ers running back is a lone bright spot on an offense that ranks 26th in scoring, 29th in total yards, and dead last in passing yards. Somehow, the 49ers running game ranks fourth in the league. A large contributing factor to that ranking has been Hyde.
The 49ers' starting running back has carried the ball 191 times for 879 rushing yards (4.6 average) and six touchdowns. No player on the 49ers' roster, other than quarterback Colin Kaepernick of course, has been responsible for more touchdowns this season. In fact, Hyde's six journeys into the end zone match all 49ers wide receivers.
Hyde is approaching a milestone. With just 121 more yards this season, he will become just the 11th player in 49ers franchise history to rush for at least 1,000 yards in a season. It will be his first career 1,000-yard season and he has only been a starter since 2015. Since Week 11, Hyde has rushed for 436 yards, which ranks as second-most in the NFL during that time span. Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell has 620 during that same time.
The 49ers visit Atlanta on Sunday to play the Falcons, a rushing defense that ranks 14th in the NFL allowing 101.1 yards on the ground a game. On Christmas Eve, the 49ers travel to Los Angeles to play the Rams, who rank 20th in the league against the run, allowing 110.3 yards per game. That should be enough to get Hyde past the milestone. On New Year's Day, the 49ers host the Seattle Seahawks, who rank 19th against the run and are allowing 104.2 rushing yards per game.
Hyde, who missed two games this season, is averaging 79.9 yards per game, which puts him on pace for 1,118 yards this season. Of course, he has averaged 109 yards per game since Week 11 with most of that coming on Sunday against the New York Jets when Hyde had a career-high 193 yards. If he were to somehow keep his pace since Week 11, he would end the season with over 1,200 yards rushing.
On Wednesday, during a conference call with Bay Area reporters, Falcons head coach
Dan Quinn said that he has been very impressed with the 49ers' running backs. "What I can say is that coming out, they look really, really well established in terms of how to run the ball," Quinn said. "I was impressed in the past by Hyde. It looks like he's running better this year than in the past."
Matt Maiocco of
CSN Bay Area pointed out to Quinn that Hyde has been relatively healthy this season. Quinn responded by asking, "Is that what it is? Because just playing against him, I've watched him and I thought he was tough and fast and then this year, between him and
[DuJuan] Harris and
Shaun [Draughn], I thought, 'The running backs look terrific.'"
"The 49ers have virtually nothing in the way of skill players, but RB Carlos Hyde is really starting to show he can be a true feature back," wrote our own Al Sacco while
previewing the 49ers' game against the Falcons. "If the Niners' passing game could actually give Hyde any type of cushion to work with, he could be even more devastating."
While these final games may not mean much
outside of draft positioning, Hyde has definitely given the Niner Faithful something worth watching.
It is less than two weeks away from the 2024 NFL Draft, and the San Francisco 49ers finally have a first-round draft pick, after not having one the last two years. Who will they select? Will it be a defensive player? An offensive player? They could use help on the offensive line and in the secondary and defensive line. And they may also have multiple holes to fill a year from now.
Either way, the 49ers need to hit on these draft picks, especially in the early rounds, where they haven't always been at their best. John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have some first-round misses, like DT Solomon Thomas and LB Rueben Foster. But are those the worst first-round picks in team history? Neither made this list, though some will argue that Thomas should be on it, mainly because he was taken
The San Francisco 49ers announced the signing of wide receiver Trent Taylor to a one-year deal, reuniting with the team's former fifth-round draft pick out of Louisiana Tech.
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area was the first to report that the 49ers were discussing a potential reunion with Taylor. The receiver was part of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch's first draft class in 2017 and spent his first four NFL seasons with the team.
The #49ers are talking with free-agent slot receiver/return man
The San Francisco 49ers are hosting several draft prospects this week as the deadline for pre-draft visits draws near. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, the team will host former Western Kentucky wide receiver Malachi Corley on Wednesday.
Corley is expected to be a Day 2 pick. San Francisco owns two selections on Day 2—the No. 63 overall pick in the second round and the No. 94 overall pick in the third round. Currently, the receiver is visiting with the Seattle Seahawks.
Western Kentucky @WKUFootball receiver Malachi Worley
Ian Rapoport didn't offer much of an update on the ongoing contract negotiations between the San Francisco 49ers and their standout wide receiver, Brandon Aiyuk. However, the NFL insider emphasized one thing: The team is not entertaining trade discussions at this juncture.
Reacting to Aiyuk's decision to unfollow the 49ers on Instagram, Rapoport couldn't help but chuckle at the latest development. This practice has become commonplace among players who are unhappy with their contract situations. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel similarly took this action in 2022 before requesting to be traded just before the draft.
Things have yet to escalate that far with Aiyuk, but Rapoport sees his
