The 49ers haven’t had someone move the way he does out of the backfield since, what, Elijah Mitchell? And I know, you’re shouting about Jordan Mason, but Mason’s more of a power, flow runner. He never had this burst. Black moves at a different speed and it was apparent immediately
Nick Wagoner·
How he can help now: At the NFL's annual league meeting in March, Shanahan was adamant about trying to find ways to spell star running back Christian McCaffrey, who is about to turn 30 and had a league-leading 413 touches last year. That, plus the Niners' insistence on drafting a running back in the middle rounds, led them to select Black even with Jordan James and Isaac Guerendo on the roster. In Black, the 49ers are getting a productive, powerful back with experience in their outside zone scheme. He rushed for 1,040 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2025 despite splitting time for Indiana. "You can't help but love the kid and everything he stands for," Lynch said. "And then you turn on the film, and we really feel like he can help us in a big way and we're really excited to have landed him." At running back, the Niners were fortunate healthwise last season with McCaffrey making it through the season. Black provides additional insurance with James the current favorite to be No. 2 behind McCaffrey. The vision for the future: Things haven't gone well for most of the running backs -- Joe Williams, Trey Sermon, Tyrion Davis-Price, Guerendo -- the Niners have selected in the middle rounds. The five the team has selected in Rounds 3-5 under Shanahan and Lynch have combined for 707 rushing yards in their careers. Coincidentally, San Francisco has been more successful finding running backs later. Undrafted free agent Matt Breida outperformed Williams, Elijah Mitchell (sixth round) was better than Sermon, and undrafted Jordan Mason earned a role bigger than Davis-Price. The Niners will eventually need to think about life after McCaffrey. They hope that isn't soon, but they also hope that Black can break that streak of running back letdowns. "We don't think it's relevant [to this year]," Shanahan said. "But hopefully we have better luck."
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