What 49ers Keep Getting Wrong When They Draft Running Backs

One of the big issues is that the team seems to be looking for running backs in the wrong places. Because it is such a deep talent pool, the rare talents go in the top two rounds, and the rest slip through the cracks. The worst time to take one appears to be the middle rounds because the insane athletes are gone, and the players who fall late because they are too small, slow, or anything else are drafted after these options. 

 If you look at the top ten rushers since 2020, eight of them were drafted in the first two rounds. Kyren Williams was drafted after this range of runners because he was deemed small and slow. Tony Pollard is the only rusher to get drafted in the range that San Francisco takes their running backs in. He is not even on the team that drafted him. 

Here are the running backs drafted since 2020 in the 88-147 range, which is where San Francisco has taken every running back. 

Darrynton Evans, Josh Kelley, La’Michel Perine, Anthony McFarland, DeeJay Dallas, Michael Carter, Kene Nwangwu, Rhamondre Stevenson, Chuba Hubbard, Brian Robinson Jr, Dameon Pierce, Zamir White, Isaiah Spiller, Pierre Strong, Hassan Haskins, Roschon Johnson, Israel Abanikanda, Jaylen Wright, Bucky Irving, Will Shipley, Ray Davis, Braelon Allen, Bhayshul Tuten, Cam Skattebo, Trevor Etienne, Woody Marks, Jarquez Hunter, Dylan Sampson. 

So, out of 28 running backs in this range, the names that stand out are Stevenson, Hubbard, Robinson, Irving, Marks, and Skattebo. Robinson is a backup, Stevenson, Hubbard, and Marks are lower-level committee backs, and that leaves Irving, who had a strong rookie season but was hurt last year, and Skattebo, who had a good first five games before getting hurt.  So, almost no matter who the 49ers took, because they were targeting a running back in this range, it was not going to work. 

San Francisco does not pick high enough to take a running back most years, so they need to wait until the latest rounds or sign a veteran moving forward.