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The 49ers are Thin at Running Back as the Preseason Approaches

It will be interesting to see which running backs the 49ers ultimately keep. I'm going out on a limb and predicting Christian McCaffrey will be one of them.

Grant Cohn

Jul 25, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey answers questions at a press conference following Day 3 of training camp at SAP Performance Facility. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 25, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey answers questions at a press conference following Day 3 of training camp at SAP Performance Facility. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports / D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
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The preseason hasn't even started yet, and three of the four running backs who are supposed to make the 49ers' 53-man roster are injured already.

Christian McCaffrey has a calf strain and is expected to miss the entire preseason. Elijah Mitchell has a hamstring strain and is week to week. And rookie Isaac Guerendo has a hamstring strain as well and it's unclear when or if he'll return this season. That leaves Jordan Mason and a group of running backs who aren't expected to make the 53-man roster.

That's why the 49ers signed veteran running back Matt Breida this week. They need bodies at running back and Breida played for the 49ers from 2017 to 2019, which means he knows their system. So he can get on the field and play right away, which is exactly what the 49ers need. And if he plays well, he just might make the team as the speed back instead of Guerendo.

In addition, while those three running backs miss time, undrafted rookie free agent Cody Schrader will get more opportunities to prove himself and make the roster. And through two weeks of training camp, Schrader has been the best rookie on the field and one of the most consistent players on the team. He always seems to find a hole, and he never misses a practice. He's an iron man. So if he runs well in the preseason, he also could have a legitimate chance to make the team. Because legendary running backs coach Bobby Turner hand-picked him.

It will be interesting to see which running backs the 49ers ultimately keep. I'm going out on a limb and predicting McCaffrey will be one of them.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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