Forget finesse: 49ers’ Hyde has no plans to alter style
Last year, when asked about his I’ll-run-you-over style, 49ers running back Carlos Hyde said he had no plans to incorporate more finesse.
Hyde’s mentality hasn’t changed after missing nine games in 2015 because of a stress fracture in his foot that required surgery.
In 2015, after a 168-yard performance in the season opener, he passed a concussion test during a Week 2 loss at Pittsburgh in which he also sustained a quadriceps injury that landed him on the injury report in Week 3.
In Week 5, he sustained his foot injury in a loss against the Giants and hobbled through the next two games before he was sidelined.
Hyde will need to be in supreme condition as the starting running back in Chip Kelly’s run-heavy, up-tempo offense.
In Kelly’s first two seasons as an NFL head coach, from 2013-14, Philadelphia’s LeSean McCoy led the NFL in rushing attempts (626) and became one of three running backs since 2010 to have consecutive 300-carry seasons.
In Kelly’s three seasons as Oregon’s head coach, from 2010-12, his top running back never averaged fewer than 20 carries a game or ranked lower than fourth in the Pac-12 in average rushing attempts.
Running backs coach Tom Rathman expects Hyde to flourish in Kelly’s system.