As it stands, the thing the Niners believe best helps their chances is leaning on the back who is, by far, their most accomplished. That would be Carlos Hyde, who rushed for a career-high 988 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 4.55 yards per carry in 2016. Where some once questioned Hyde's fit with this year's team, he has clearly established himself at the top of the pecking order after arriving to camp in the best shape of his career and impressing coaches with his improvement as a pass-catcher.
"I would tell you that all three of those guys, if you’ve watched Kyle over the years and Mike Shanahan, [running backs coach] Bobby Turner, these guys, if you are on the roster as a running back, you’re likely going to play," Lynch said. "Raheem Mostert gives us a tremendous asset as a special teams player as well but absolutely Carlos is going to be featured in this deal but Matt Breida is very much a part of our plans. He’s a guy who from Day 1 showed up here and you didn’t have to be like a football savant to see that guy can move and he can move fast and he’s a smart football player and he has the intangibles."
The 49ers released Tim Hightower who was expected to be the back behind Hyde this year. Based on the rest of the backs on the team, Hyde should be in store for a lot of the workload even if the team is high on Breida. This is certainly good news after there were a lot of questions surrounding Hyde's fit with the team in the offseason.
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