SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers have played games without Deebo Samuel Sr. in the last year and a half. And they’ve played games without Christian McCaffrey in the last year and a half.
But they’ve never played a game in that span without either Samuel or McCaffrey, a challenge for Kyle Shanahan’s offense Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.
Shanahan said Wednesday that his playbook won’t necessarily contract without those players but conceded he’ll call plays differently.
“You eliminate some special things that you would only do for those guys, but the number (of plays) doesn’t change,” he said. “It’s just that there’s things those guys do very well. Nothing other guys can’t do. But there’s kind of different percentages on how much you call them and things like that.”
Samuel didn’t practice Wednesday, although he was seen walking around in the locker room and weight room without a limp. Shanahan said Samuel’s calf injury does not involve his Achilles tendon like McCaffrey’s does.
The issue is that McCaffrey and Samuel are the most versatile weapons in Shanahan’s arsenal. They’re adept in both the running and passing game, forcing defenses to choose whether to counter them with defensive backs or linebackers and giving the 49ers more options with their attack. When McCaffrey was ruled out for Week 1 against the New York Jets, for example, the 49ers used Samuel as a McCaffrey-like change-of-pace option out of the backfield.
So what do the 49ers do without both of them? How do they complement the hard-charging style of top tailback Jordan Mason, who hasn’t had much production as a third-down back? Here are their options …
Take a page from the past
This isn’t the first time the 49ers have faced a running back shortage early in the season. It also happened in 2018 when Jerick McKinnon, on track to be San Francisco’s do-everything back that season, tore his ACL just before Week 1.
His backup, Matt Breida, also battled injuries throughout the season, leading to a lot of games in which fullback Kyle Juszczyk became the de facto third-down back. For example, Juszczyk had six catches for 75 yards in an early-season loss to the Arizona Cardinals that season and finished with a career-high 324 receiving yards.
The 49ers already have been favoring Juszczyk while McCaffrey’s been out. He has eight targets and 59 receiving yards through two games. If he keeps up that pace, he’ll finish with a new career-high — 502 receiving yards.
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Roll with a newcomer
The 49ers have other tailback and tailback-like players on the roster, though all of them have been lightly used at this point.
Isaac Guerendo certainly has the tools to be a change-of-pace option. The rookie is the team’s fastest running back and was named Indiana’s “Mr. Football” as a wide receiver. He initially was a receiver at Wisconsin before switching to running back, and he had 22 catches for 234 yards last season at Louisville.
The issue with Guerendo is inexperience, which was exacerbated by a four-week-long hamstring injury this summer. Guerendo simply hasn’t taken many snaps with the 49ers and has just one carry — for no gain — so far this season.
Like a lot of young runners, Guerendo didn’t show enough patience on his lone carry Sunday, though Shanahan didn’t think it would have been a massive gain had he chosen the correct lane.
“(Mason) had one like that in the game, too,” Shanahan said. “With a remote in our hands, we all slow it down and see that, but I don’t think there was a big one there. If he would’ve kept pressing, I think he would’ve got 1 to 3 yards and tackled.”
Patrick Taylor Jr. has the most experience of the group. He’s been a backup runner for the Green Bay Packers for the last three seasons, which means he’s well-versed in the 49ers’ offensive scheme. However, he was mainly a special teams player in Green Bay and didn’t get a lot of opportunities as a pass catcher. His most prolific season came last year when he had 11 catches for 49 yards.
The 49ers have used him in a similar way so far. He has eight snaps on special teams through two games, zero on offense.
Finally, rookie receiver Jacob Cowing could be an option. He lined up sporadically in Arizona’s backfield last season and is good on the jet sweeps and screens the 49ers like to give Samuel as a way to keep defenses moving laterally.
Like Taylor, however, the 49ers haven’t been eager to get him involved in the offense and he has no offensive snaps so far this season. At 168 pounds he’s also the 49ers’ smallest player and the 49ers likely are leery of over-using him — especially on carries — in a game.
Bring someone from the outside
This appears to be the 49ers’ last resort. The 49ers didn’t bring in any running backs or receivers for tryouts on Tuesday, the day most teams do so, and they may be waiting to see how McCaffrey’s Achilles issue resolves before doing anything dramatic. The soonest he can return is the Oct. 10 game in Seattle, which is on a Thursday.
If the 49ers did feel compelled to add a versatile tailback, they have options. Breida spent the second half of training camp with them and remains available. So is McKinnon, who caught 81 passes and scored 13 receiving touchdowns over the past two seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs. McKinnon, however, wasn’t with any team this offseason and hasn’t practiced since the run-up to the Super Bowl.
The 49ers also could trade for a running back familiar with their system with the running-back-laden Miami Dolphins being an obvious trade partner. The trade deadline this year is Nov. 5.
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Odds & ends
• Safety Talanoa Hufanga went through a full practice for the first time since tearing his ACL on Nov. 19 and is on track to make his 2024 debut Sunday in Los Angeles.
“Obviously, you always miss Huf out there,” Shanahan said. “The big-play capability, how well he communicates, flying sideline to sideline. We’re going to be pumped. He should get back this week if everything goes right. We’ve missed him.”
Should Hufanga start as expected, he’ll be paired with Ji’Ayir Brown. George Odum started the first two games at safety but lost snaps to rookie Malik Mustapha on Sunday in Minnesota.
With Hufanga back at full strength, Samuel was the only 49ers who didn’t practice in full on Wednesday.
• Shanahan said Cowing would continue to handle punts despite his muffed attempt in the third quarter in Minnesota.
“When it comes to catching stuff, he’s been as natural of a catcher as we’ve had in our eight years here, just in practice, how he’s been in the games,” Shanahan said. “I know that one got away from him, and we can’t have those. But everyone muffs one here and there. You just hope that was the end of it.”
• Shanahan attributed Mitch Wishnowsky’s blocked punt in the first quarter to slow reaction time on the right side of the line. The Minnesota Vikings’ C.J. Ham split Robert Beal Jr. to the inside and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles to the outside to get the block.
BIG punt block for the @Vikings!
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📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/EyUolJwU9W— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2024
“We were late off the ball on the right side, which made one guy a little bit behind and then the guy outside of him was a little bit too wide,” Shanahan said. “He could have been a little tighter to save (Beal). We had a snap count that tried to surprise them and it (instead) surprised one of our guys who was just — he missed half a second on the road and stuff.”
• Atlanta Falcons safety Jessie Bates III beat out Fred Warner for NFC Defensive Player of the Week. Bates had 12 tackles, two passes defensed, a game-sealing interception and a tackle for loss in a come-from-behind win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Warner had two forced fumbles, an interception, a sack and led his team in tackles in Sunday’s loss.
• Former 49ers Joe Staley, Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker were among the 167 modern-era players nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s upcoming class on Wednesday.
The trio of players played their final games in 2019, making them eligible for the 2025 class. Staley spent his 13-year career in San Francisco. Davis spent nine full seasons with the 49ers before moving on to Denver and Washington. He ranks 11th all-time in receiving yards by a tight end with 7,562. Walker played seven seasons in San Francisco and another seven in Tennessee.
(Top photos of Kyle Juszczyk and Isaac Guerendo: Michael Zagaris / San Francisco 49ers / Getty Images)
