When Kyle Shanahan was introduced as the 49ers’ head coach this offseason, there was no question that San Francisco’s offense would take on a completely different shape.
Shanahan developed a reputation as one of the more innovative and intelligent play-callers in the NFL as an offensive coordinator, and his scheme promised to vary greatly from that of his predecessor Chip Kelly. Kelly’s scheme of course, was significantly different from that of Geep Chryst, who served as the 49ers’ coordinator under Jim Tomsula and Jim Harbaugh.
Shanahan and first-year general manager John Lynch were both handed six-year contracts that offered them job security to mold the team in their own unique vision. Because that vision would contrast with that of previous regimes, Shanahan and Lynch have attempted to overhaul the 49ers’ personnel in an effort to hand-pick players ideally suited for schemes on both offense and defense.
The result? More than half of the 53 players who make San Francisco’s final roster will be new to the franchise in 2017, as mainstays and holdovers alike were forced to pursue new opportunities. In the past week alone, the 49ers have cut Ahmad Brooks and traded Vance McDonald, who were both battling for starting roles with younger players Shanahan and Lynch deemed better fits.
It’s possible, too, that running back Carlos Hyde could have met the same fate as many veteran peers.
A 2014 second round draft choice by the 49ers, Hyde has impressive natural talent and the versatility to help a backfield in a variety of ways, but he’s not necessarily geared for a zone-blocking scheme. At 6-feet tall and 230 pounds, Hyde is tailored for a gap scheme that allows him to rely on his combination of brute strength and speed to physically will his way through running lanes.
Though Kelly and Chryst both featured zone-blocking concepts in their schemes, Shanahan and Lynch entered the 49ers franchise with the leeway to adjust their roster as they saw fit. In the past, coordinators were largely asked to adapt their schemes to mesh with former general manager Trent Baalke’s personnel, but this time around, Shanahan and Lynch are working much more cohesively to construct the 49ers’ roster and depth chart.
As a result, Hyde’s status with the 49ers came into question, especially after Shanahan raved about 2017 fourth round draft choice Joe Williams, a running back out of Utah who threatened to steal carries away from Hyde as a rookie. In fact, it’s entirely possible that if Williams and fellow running back Tim Hightower strung together fantastic training camps, Hyde would be suiting up for a different team in week one.
However, Hyde set out to prove he’s capable of adapting on his own, and he began training camp on a tear. He laid to rest questions about who would top the 49ers’ depth chart, and earned praise from both Shanahan and Lynch for how he operated within the 49ers’ offense. By the middle of August, San Francisco wasn’t going to give up on Hyde, in part because of his efforts, and in part because of the struggles of his peers. While undrafted rookie Matt Breida took training camp by storm and has likely done enough to earn a roster spot, Shanahan knows Breida isn’t prepared to be a featured back just yet.
Because Hyde has experience in zone-blocking schemes, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he performed better than expected. For as innovative as Shanahan is with his play-calling, he’s not sitting in his office every night inventing never-before-seen run-blocking concepts. While Hyde’s skill set isn’t necessarily engineered for Shanahan’s offense, he has the natural gifts to outshine the peers the 49ers surround him with in any system.
Still, as the preseason comes to a close on Thursday night –a game Hyde won’t appear in– Hyde’s performances in the preseason have raised doubts about how effective he can be in Shanahan’s offense. In three August contests, Hyde rushed 17 times for 45 yards, a 2.6 yard per carry average that won’t cut it in the regular season.
Even after Sunday’s game in Minnesota, a game in which the 49ers’ first-team offense thrived, Shanahan said Hyde could have showed better field vision, even though Hyde did a nice job burrowing through the holes he did find.
“I thought he did a good job with the holes that he ran to,” Shanahan said. “I actually just watched it with him. There was one run that I thought he made the wrong cut on and he ended up getting seven yards on that run. Couldn’t fault him too much for it. There was one run I didn’t think he hit the exact right hole and he ended up getting one of our bigger gains on the day on it. So, I know Carlos would love to have better stats. I know he really would love to get that big play, but he’s got to let the game come to him.”
The 49ers insist that Hyde is on the verge of a break-through. Shanahan knows San Francisco’s pass-blocking has been better than its run-blocking during the preseason, and he knows that’s hampered Hyde’s ability to create explosive plays. Still, if this persists deep into the regular season, Hyde may begin to lose carries to Williams, Breida, or even Raheem Mostert, if the 49ers elect to keep him over Hightower on the 53-man roster.
In the meantime, what’s working in Hyde’s favor is that none of his challengers on the depth chart have found a rhythm in the 49ers backfield. Williams, a hand-picked draft choice, was expected to transition to San Francisco’s scheme rather fluidly. That hasn’t happened. Breida has emerged from the undrafted free agent ranks to look like a legitimate backup, but he won’t challenge Hyde right away. In limited preseason work, Hightower has three carries for minus-1 rushing yards. His performance in Thursday’s preseason finale will determine whether he makes the roster.
“We’ve got a pretty good idea of what Tim can do,” Shanahan said. “That’s why we’ve brought him here. Definitely going to give him more opportunities Thursday. He’s definitely in this mix. We just had a bunch of guys that we haven’t seen before and we’ve had to get some of these rookies more opportunities because you never know what you’ve got with them until you see them in NFL games.”
As Week 1 approaches, the 49ers’ running back corps is still a work in progress. San Francisco believes Hyde will ultimately come into his own, but perhaps Lynch and Shanahan are doing their best Lavar Ball impression, and “speaking it into existence.”
Hyde wasn’t hand-picked for this job. And the player Shanahan and Lynch did eye, Williams, doesn’t appear ready for the spotlight.
Perhaps the 49ers’ running back unit in 2017 will serve as a microcosm for the big-picture rebuild the team has undertaken. There’s plenty of potential, it may just take time to mold.