John Lynch tells Steve Wyche that Jerick McKinnon plays big despite smaller size

Can running back Jerick McKinnon find success as the featured back in San Francisco? General manager John Lynch believes so. The San Francisco 49ers signed McKinnon as a free agent at the start of free agency in March. Head coach Kyle Shanahan will have him take on the majority of the workload in the backfield.

One of the big questions surrounding McKinnon's potential success as a featured back is his size. He is listed at 5-foot-9 and 205 pounds. Those measurements are smaller than last season's starter, Carlos Hyde, who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 229 pounds.

Lynch believes McKinnon, along with running back Matt Breida, can be effective in Shanahan's offense. The 49ers general manager spoke with NFL Network's Steve Wyche during Thursday's practice, which was the first of training camp.

"We like Matt Breida a lot," Lynch told Wyche. "We obviously like Jerick McKinnon a lot. We went out and got him. And the one thing I love about Kyle, he's a got a really good knowledge of exactly what he wants at each position, and he really doesn't rely on, 'Was Jerick a backup elsewhere?' What he saw, he liked a lot.

"The more I started watching him, I started liking him a lot as well. The interesting thing about him, I think he's going to be a huge asset in the pass game, we really think he's going to be a good runner. Carlos Hyde, who we lost, who did great for us -- a bigger back. Jerick's smaller in stature, but I think he plays big. Once I watched him a lot, I kind of got over those concerns of him being small. He plays big. 206 pounds but a big, strong guy as well."