Predicting 49ers running back depth chart in 2020

49ers Running Backs on the 53-Man Roster, Depth Chart

Those roles Kyle Shanahan spoke about a year ago will carry a lot of weight heading into 2020. And there’s a strong chance those players who assume those roles the best in camp and the preseason wind up being the safe-bet additions by Week 1. Raheem Mostert’s trade request creates a wrinkle, but it isn’t as if the 49ers have to honor it. A new deal could be struck, too. It remains a fluid situation.

San Francisco 49ers

So, for estimation’s sake, here are the four who make it this season:

1. Tevin Coleman
2. Raheem Mostert
3. Jerick McKinnon
4. JaMycal Hasty

Hasty gets the nod over Salvon Ahmed and Jeff Wilson here based on the notion his scatback abilities as a one-cut runner and elusive tackle create a gadget-type weapon for Shahanan he hasn’t quite had since taking over coaching duties in 2017.

Yet Hasty would have to improve his abilities as a blocker, which weren’t particularly great in college, in order to find any service on third downs.

Coleman, whose 4.0 yards-per-carry average last season wasn’t quite as impressive as Mostert’s mark, still likely sees a lot of time as the 49ers’ starter, even though he’ll likely be tasked with facing plenty eight-man boxes as he did for much of 2019. This will be intended for Shanahan to analyze defenses and find their weaknesses, then using Mostert to exploit them on the ground, while McKinnon serves to be the primary pass-catching tailback in those specific situations.

Granted, it’ll all depend on how each player performs between now and Week 1, injuries and a variety of other X-factors. It also wouldn’t be shocking to see Hasty swapped out for Salvon Ahmed, or at least one of those two rookies placed on the practice squad to develop a little longer for use in 2020.