San Francisco 49ers: Why Carlos Hyde Will Benefit The Most in Chip Kelly’s Offense
By Rich Madrid
Running back Carlos Hyde didn’t have the type of breakout season with the San Francisco 49ers due to a lingering foot injury. But with head coach Chip Kelly at the helm, Hyde is poised to have a big year in 2016.
Since current San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly entered the NFL as the Philadelphia Eagles head coach, much has been about his style of offense. Pundits and coaches across the football world have described it as gimmicky and just “a college offense.” But Kelly himself once admitted “I’ve said it since day one: We don’t do anything revolutionary offensively.”
Despite his reputation as an offensive innovator, he told media members in August 2014 that “we’re not doing anything that’s never been done before in football.”
Still, questions remain to just how effectively can he turn an offense around that ranked 21st in the run and 26th overall in Football Outsiders DVOA. One player that stands to benefit the most is third-year running back Carlos Hyde.
Although Hyde only played seven games this season, he amassed 470 yards on 115 carries and 3 touchdowns as the lead back before succumbing to a foot injury. The second-round pick in the 2014 draft, Carlos Hyde played at Ohio State in head coach Urban Meyer’s spread offense and will easily transition to Chip Kelly’s version of it.
Here’s why.
The pillar of Kelly’s offense is the zone run, specifically the inside zone. The inside zone running game is as old as football itself and is a downhill, fast, physical attack that punishes a defense for over-pursuing. Indeed, Kelly says in a 2009 coach’s clinic “the inside zone play is our ‘go-to-work’ play. It has become our signature play. We want to get off the ball and be a physical, downhill-running football team. This is not a finesse play.”
The zone running play works by having the offensive linemen block a space or a “zone.” The zone helps the linemen determine who and where to block. The blocking is determined by the defensive alignment.
Covered linemen block the guy in front of them, uncovered linemen take a step toward the play side and help double team block with the linemen next to them before proceeding to the next level, usually to block a linebacker or crashing safety/corner. The double team blocks are what really form the pinnacle of Coach Kelly’s offense, for as he says the goal of his offensive line is to “knock the crap out of the defender, and deposit him in the linebacker’s lap.”
In Chip Kelly’s offense, Carlos could be the best running back he has had to run his signature play. Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy was not known for being a downhill, physical runner, and fellow RB DeMarrco Murray had the disadvantage of poor interior offensive line play after offensive linemen Evan Mathis and Todd Herremans both left Philadelphia.
In the cut-ups below against an otherwise decent Minnesota Vikings defense from Week 1’s Monday Night Football game, we’ll see Hyde find the cutback lanes in the zone scheme and continue to punish defenders downhill, and we’ll also see him hit the hole when there is no cutback but the hole develops where the blocking seals off the defenders.
First play: 2nd-and-3 from the Minnesota 10-yard line, late in the second quarter, score is tied at zero.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick lines up in the pistol formation with fullback Bruce Miller to his right and Hyde as the running back.
Image: NFL GamePass
Kaepernick takes the snap and hands off to Hyde running to his right. In rare showing of discipline and sheer strength, the offensive line blows up the front seven of Minnesota with solid blocking.
However, it should be noted, the 49ers offensive line double-teams in the zone-running game are not nearly as efficient as the double-teams executed by Philadelphia’s offensive line. Offensive Guards Jordan Devey and Alex Boone do just the bare minimum to chip their guy on the double-team before hitting the next level defenders. This will likely get more attention from Coach Kelly.
Images: NFL GamePass
However, the blocking works to perfection and the backside defender Everson Griffen crashes hard. Hyde makes him pay with a nifty spin move before he cuts back against the grain and takes it 10 yards for the score.
Images and gif: NFL GamePass
Second play: fourth quarter, 9:44 left, 1st-and-10 49ers at the Minnesota 17-yard line.
This play is almost a mirror image of the first touchdown run. Kaepernick lines up in the pistol with Miller to his right and Hyde as the running back. The handoff goes to Hyde running to his right again.
Image: NFL GamePass
Only this time, Griffin stays home, partly because he was probably expecting a zone read (will cover in a later post) and partly because his left tackle Joe Staley blocked his defender into Griffen.
Image: NFL GamePass
Instead of cutting back, Hyde see the hole develop right off the backside of Boone’s block, one quick step in that direction, and he walks into the end zone untouched for a 17-yard score and puts the 49ers up 17-3.
Image and gif: NFL GamePass
Hyde is a physical downhill runner in the mold of retired Seahawks back Marshawn Lynch. Chip Kelly’s offense is quick hitting and physical, despite the narrative that it’s gimmicky and only suited for college offenses.
He prefers to have running backs who can get downhill quick and punish the defense. Hyde, when healthy, stands to to benefit most from this style of rushing attack with his great vision and quick feet and his ability to make defenders miss (32 missed tackles on 115 carries).
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Hyde’s draft profile characterized him as a back who “punishes linebackers running downhill and almost always falls forward. Superb contact balance and finishing strength — does not go down easily and can barrel through arm tackles. …Good awareness and anticipation to react to stunts and adjust to movement.”
Hyde will no doubt utilize those attributes in Chip Kelly’s high-powered, explosive offense and it will serve him well.
Next: Pre-Free Agency Prediction of the 49ers' 2016 Roster
All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and Sports-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated.