While De’Zhaun Stribling endured an unfortunate start to his NFL career as injury struck on his debut, Week 1 of the new campaign saw several promising signs from other members of the 49ers’ rookie class.
Romello Height, Gracen Halton and Jaden Dugger all saw significant snaps and contributed to what was ultimately a strong defensive performance from San Francisco in the 27-7 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
However, no rookie stood out more than third-round running back Kaelon Black, who surprisingly
received more carries than longtime workhorse Christian McCaffrey and shone while doing so.
Indeed, Black had 14 carries to McCaffrey’s 10 and put up 65 yards at an average of 4.6 yards per carry.
Black’s success helped keep McCaffrey — who racked up 6.8 yards per rush — fresh as the 49ers produced an impressive and extremely efficient performance on the ground.
While it is only one game, Black’s debut served as compelling evidence he can be consistently successful as a complementary back who can take the burden off McCaffrey.
The 49ers have seen several young backs fail to live up to their draft status during Kyle Shanhan’s tenure but, asked about Black, San Francisco’s head coach pointed to an intangible as key to the former Oklahoma Sooner separating himself from those predecessors who were unable to impress.
Speaking in Wednesday’s press conference, Shanahan was effusive in his praise of Black.
Asked if the running back rotation worked out as he wanted, Shanahan said: “Yeah, it did work out. I was a little surprised at the end just that Kaelon got more [carries] than Christian.
“That was just kind of how the game went. Has a lot to do with probably me starting out the game. I think I had like three runs in the first 17 plays, but love taking some off Christian and love the fact that Kaelon was prepared for everything, the run game and the pass game, and allowed us to be able to do that.”
Going into more detail about what stood out about Black in comparison to rookie draft picks from previous years, Shanahan hailed his attention to detail, adding:
“He earned in training camp to be our number two back, so he was who we were going to go with and just how prepared he seemed throughout the week. I mean, there wasn’t a time that, all right, Christian got this rep, it’s a play for Christian, and his backup won’t know what to do. He showed during the week how attentive he was, how much he knew, how much he was studying whether he got to rep or not. And when you do that, even though certain things you definitely want to keep Christian in on, that just makes it a lot easier for [running backs coach Robert Turner Jr.] Bobby to sub him. He doesn’t always know what play I’m going to call and stuff and when you’re confident that the backup knows what he’s doing and can do it, it makes it easier on the position coaches.”
Pressed on whether that kind of attentiveness and focus is rare for a rookie back, Shanahan replied: “I’d like to say it’s what I expect, but it’s not always what you get. But, that’s how he was advertised coming out of college.
“I do think he’s rare in terms of his maturity and just how much of a pro he’s seemed like since day one.”
It was a very revealing answer from Shanahan, one that suggests they significantly misjudged the readiness of previous draft picks at the position.
Of course, rare maturity is no guarantee of sustained production, but the early signs throughout camp, preseason and now through Week 1 have been very promising. The 49er backfield will be set up well for the long term if Black maintains his early momentum.
