This offseason, the San Francisco 49ers shook up their backfield as they traded Jordan Mason and a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for a 2025 fifth round and a 2026 sixth round pick.
It wasn’t a huge surprise to see the 49ers move on from Mason, especially with the success that Isaac Guerendo showed in his rookie season. If San Fran kept Mason heading into this season, there wouldn’t be many carries to go around when you factor in Guerendo and a healthy Christian McCaffrey.
However, that didn’t stop the 49ers from adding more talent to the running back room. San Fran re-signed veteran Patrick Taylor to a one-year deal, then took Jordan James in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and signed Corey Kiner as an UDFA following the draft. And not to mention, the 49ers brought back Israel Abanikanda, who they grabbed off waivers last season.
Simply put, there will be a lot of competition in that running back room this season. Heading into training camp, we know that McCaffrey, Guerendo, James, and Kyle Juszcyzk spots are locked in.
That leaves maybe one spot on the practice squad potentially for Taylor, Kiner, and Abanikanda later this summer. We didn’t hear much of anything at OTAs or minicamp about Taylor Jr., but we did hear some good things about James and Kiner.
According to Grant Cohn of San Francisco 49ers on SI, James had a nice play on the ground during the team’s second minicamp practice, where he ripped off 15 yards and showcased his explosiveness.
Meanwhile, Kiner should not be overlooked as the 5-foot-9 running back produced back-to-back 1,000-plus rushing yard seasons in his last two years at the University of Cincinnati. Kiner isn’t the fastest running back (4.57 40-yard dash), but has good burst and can pick up speed out of a cut, which allows him to create big plays on the ground.
When you hear and read those things about the two young running backs, it doesn’t look good for Taylor.
The 27-year-old Taylor appeared in 13 games last season, despite being cut on November 9, and re-signed three days later to the practice squad. The veteran running back had 183 rushing yards and a touchdown on 39 carries.
Taylor spent a good amount of time on special teams (120 snaps), but received an increase in playing time on offense (172) because of the injuries in the backfield. If this was any other year where the 49ers didn’t have two rookie RBs, you could make the case for Taylor to stick on the roster or taxi squad. However, if those two young guys impress, it will likely be Taylor’s last year with San Francisco.