On Saturday afternoon, over 1,000 NFL players will find themselves looking for work. Alfred Morris is unlikely to be one of them. The new San Francisco 49ers running back put on a show this past weekend in Indianapolis rushing for 84 yards on 17 carries against the Colts defense in just over a half of play. He likely ran himself right onto the 49ers' 53-man roster.
On Sunday morning, NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger made a notable comment via Twitter while analyzing Morris' 49ers debut.
"It's a pretty good bet that on September 9, this man, Alfred Morris, will be the starting tailback for the San Francisco 49ers," Baldinger said within a posted video.
49ers general manager John Lynch joined KNBR on Wednesday morning and was asked about Baldinger's statement.
"First of all, I love those Baldy breakdowns," Lynch said on the "Murph & Mac" show. "It confirms something I've always known because you can see right through whether a guy has done his homework or not. And I worked with Baldy for years at FOX, and the guy always did his homework. He's well versed in football, and he's entertaining."
Lynch did not discuss whether or not there has been any setback in impending starter Jerick McKinnon's recovery from a calf injury or Matt Breida's recovery from a separated shoulder. He did, however, comment on Baldinger's actual analysis of Morris.
"His take on Alfred was exactly right," Lynch continued. "What's interesting about Alfred is you always think — and this is something Kyle and I have talked about — you always think of a change-of-pace back of being the quick, fast guy, who's a third-down back. I think the way we've comprised our roster with a premium on speed and matchup issues for a defense, we just had a feeling — number one, we got injured. We also had a feeling that we were missing a churner, a guy who could get the tough yards. A mudder, we used to call them. Someone who could stick their foot in a tough condition game and grind out some yards.
"The other day, I will tell you, at Indianapolis, those holes were big. I think we could have run through them. But Alfred also has a style, a patience, always finding the right hole. He's played in the offense for a number of years, so he really did look good. That's what you're checking with a guy like that. Kyle's been around him a lot. He's had great success with him. Bobby Turner, our running backs coach (has as well).
"[Morris] knows the system well. You want to see where he's at physically and he sure looked good the other day."
You can listen to the entire interview with Lynch below.