Why the 49ers Won’t Spend a High Draft Pick on a Running Back
With the 2017 NFL Draft coming up in less than a month, experts have been releasing mock drafts frequently. In most cases, they have the San Francisco 49ers taking a running back early in the draft, but here’s why that will not happen.
When Kyle Shanahan was hired to be the head coach of the 49ers, he immediately knew his running backs coach was going to Bobby Turner.
There’s been a history between these two, as Turner has been the running backs coach for the elder Mike Shanahan in Denver as well. From 1995-2008, Mike Shanahan and Turner worked together in Denver with the Broncos, developing stud running backs.
Then in 2010, when Mike Shanahan took over as the Redskins’ head coach, he brought on Kyle Shanahan as his offensive coordinator and Turner as his running backs coach.
Turner followed Kyle Shanahan to Atlanta and has spent the past two seasons there, serving as his running backs coach.
Looking at the history between the Shanahans and Turner, they have never drafted a running back in the first round in their 20 years together with different teams. I alluded to this in a tweet, earlier this weekend:
Fun Fact of the day: With Shanahan and RBs Coach Bobby Turner, don't expect a RB early. Since 2010, here are the RBs they've drafted (1/3)
— Akash Anavarathan (@akashanav) March 25, 2017
Turner’s philosophy is simple: find a running back in the middle rounds of the draft and develop him into a star.
Here’s all the running backs that the Shanahan/Turner combination has drafted. Pay close attention to which round these players were drafted in.
In Denver, with Mike Shanahan and Bobby Turner:
1995: 6th Round (196th overall): Terrell Davis
1996: 3rd Round (65th overall): Detron Smith
1998: 4th Round (122nd overall): Curtis Alexander
1998: 5th Round (153rd overall): Chris Howard
2000: 6th Round (189th overall): Mike Anderson
2002: 2nd Round (51st overall): Clinton Portis
2003: 4th Round (108th overall): Quentin Griffin
2003: 7th Round (235th overall): Ahmaad Galloway
2008: 5th Round (139th overall): Ryan Torain
In Washington, with Mike Shanahan, Kyle Shanahan and Bobby Turner:
2011: 5th Round (105th overall): Roy Helu
2012: 6th Round (173rd overall): Alfred Morris
2013: 5th Round (154th overall): Chris Thompson
In Atlanta, with Kyle Shanahan and Bobby Turner:
2015: 3rd Round (73rd overall): Tevin Coleman
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Looking at that, the earliest that a running back was drafted was back in 2002, with Clinton Portis being taken in the second round.
The 2017 class of backs are extremely talented, with Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey leading the way, but I don’t expect the 49ers to add either of these players in the first round.
Rather, the 49ers will look at add a developmental running back in the middle rounds. Some running backs to watch out for in the middle rounds include: Kareem Hunt, Elijah McGuire and T.J. Logan.
Next: The Quest for Six Podcast, Ep. 2: Ranking the Top 5 Free-Agent Signings in 49ers History
The 49ers feature a backfield that includes Carlos Hyde, Mike Davis, Raheem Mostert and recently-added DuJuan Harris. Keeping Turner’s draft history with the Shanahans in mind, the 49ers won’t add a running back early in the draft.