Carlos Hyde has been one of the lone bright spots in a new-look 49ers offense that has struggled mightily to start the season. Despite scoring a combined 15 points and not reaching the end zone through two games, Hyde is currently fourth in the NFL in rushing yards (169) and second in yards per attempt (7.0), and looks primed for a breakout season in Kyle Shanahan’s offense, assuming the 49ers can keep games relatively close.
“I said this last year: I think Carlos Hyde can be a top five back,” Brent Jones said on KNBR Tuesday. “I love the way Carlos Hyde runs, and he only had 15 carries (Sunday) but he was chewing up some big yards and he’s a tough kid.”
Hyde did only have 15 carries on Sunday against what is considered the best front seven in football, and gashed them, finishing with 126 yards, making him the only player to do so at CenturyLink Field since 2015, also accomplishing the same feat last season. Hyde was also impressive in limited action in the 49ers’ completely forgettable Week 1 loss to the Panthers, averaging five yards per carry against another stellar defense.
It’s funny to think that before training camp, there were rumblings that Hyde’s roster spot wasn’t safe, and that his straight ahead running style wasn’t an ideal fit for Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme. Not only does Hyde look like a fine fit, he’s finding running lanes behind what appears to be one of the weakest offensive lines in football, especially at the guard position. Through two games, the three guards the 49ers have trotted out — Brandon Fusco, Laken Tomlinson and Zane Beadles — have all graded out as well below average according to Pro Football Focus, ranked as the 45th, 48th, and 69th most effective players at their positions respectively.
Against two of the best defenses in football, without the support of any semblance of a passing game or offensive line, Hyde looks as good as he ever has, and that’s a great sign for the 49ers moving forward. Some of the credit should certainly be directed at Shanahan’s system, that has helped spring the likes of Alfred Morris and Steve Slaton to 100 yard seasons when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator in Washington and Houston respectively.
Hyde’s strong start also means that the 49ers appear to have improved in two key areas — the running game and on defense — meaning if they just get average production out of the passing game (far from a guarantee) they may actually be able to turn some heads and make real progress in 2017.
Based on what we’ve seen, the smartest course of action might be to make Hyde the focal point of the offense, run with him on the majority of first and second downs, and give struggling quarterback Brian Hoyer a chance to convert on third and manageable, also opening up the possibility for deep throws down the field via the play action pass.
“Defenses have to worry about the running game more, and defenses hate when the guys run the ball all over them,” Garçon said of this strategy on Tuesday. “So that definitely opens up the pass game if not this game, the next game, during the game that we played last week, it definitely helps us out in the passing game.
But even if the 49ers decide to give Hyde just 15-20 carries per game, he’s shown he can be productive in this system against top competition. As long as he stays healthy — and the 49ers aren’t consistently down by 20 points — there is no reason that Hyde shouldn’t be one of the top rushers in 2017 when all is said and done.