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The 49ers Should Sign a Running Back if Christian McCaffrey Goes to IR

Now would be a good time to sign a free agent running back who fits the system just in case Jordan Mason goes down, as running backs often do.

Grant Cohn

August 18, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) watches warm ups before the game against the New Orleans Saints at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
August 18, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) watches warm ups before the game against the New Orleans Saints at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
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Suddenly the 49ers have just one healthy running back they trust.

Christian McCaffrey has Achilles tendonitis and could go to the Injured Reserve List soon. And Elijah Mitchell already is out for the season with a knee injury. Which means the 49ers have Jordan Mason, who rushed 28 times last week, and that's it.

They also have Deebo Samuel, but he's a wide receiver. He hasn't been an effective running back since 2021, which was Mike McDaniel's final season on the 49ers. Now he's the Miami Dolphins head coach.

Which means the 49ers need another running back they trust. Someone who can share the load with Jordan Mason if McCaffrey misses an extended period of time. Because Mason's backups currently are Patrick Taylor Jr. and rookie Isaac Guerendo, and neither one seems good enough to play right now. So if Mason were to get injured in the first quarter this Sunday against the Vikings, the 49ers run game would collapse and they might lose to a team they should beat.

Now would be a good time to sign a free agent running back who fits the system just in case Mason goes down, as running backs often do. Fortunately for the 49ers, such a running back is available -- I'm talking Matt Breida.

Breida played for the 49ers from 2017 to 2019 and averaged 5.0 yards per carry. This offseason, he signed with the 49ers during training camp and played with thiem during the preseason but did not make the 53-man roster. But at least he knows the offense.

The 49ers should sign him a.s.a.p.

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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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