49ers: 4 fictional football players who could help the 2020 team

No. 3: 49ers get straight-line speed out of the backfield with an All-American, Forrest Gump

There’s no question 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan loves speed out of his running backs.

It’s something his current crop of runners has in spades, but after trading away maybe the backfield’s fastest member in former Niner Matt Breida, Shanahan might be looking for more straight-line speed out of the backfield.

Enter the former Alabama speedster and All-American, Forrest Gump.

He might not be the world’s smartest man, so there might be some question about whether he’d feature on many of Shanahan’s more complicated running schemes. But in terms of just handing him the ball and telling him to run in a straight line, there wouldn’t be much better.

He could also factor into the return game, as he does in the clip above, which might be useful in the wake of the injury to current return specialist, Richie James, who has been the 49ers’ main return specialist over the last several seasons.

If his stint at Alabama during the movie is any indication, Gump would be an unstoppable force on the 49ers offense and in the return game, making Shanahan’s offense all that more potent.