SF 49ers: 3 reasons Jerick McKinnon breaks out in 2020

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Jerick McKinnon #21 of the Minnesota Vikings (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

No. 3: Jerick McKinnon’s Speed a Factor for SF 49ers

To say the running backs on the 49ers are fast is a bit of an understatement. In 2019 of all three running backs that got a start, Tevin Coleman had the slowest 40-yard dash time at 4.39 seconds.

That pretty much sums up the speed of the running back stable.

McKinnon ran a 40-yard dash time of 4.41 seconds, so he’s right in the upper echelon of speed in the league along with his fellow running backs for San Francisco.

Speed was a factor that helped all the running backs on the 49ers succeed in 2019 due to the heavy outside-zone schemes. The backs had to be patient in waiting for the zone blocks to develop and then use their acceleration and speed to make big moves.

A back like McKinnon will thrive in schemes like the ones Shanahan deploys on offense. He has shown his ability to accelerate in the open field. That should allow him to pull off runs akin to the kinds that running back Matt Breida pulled off last season.

Many will remember the Monday Night Football game in 2019 in which the 49ers trounced the Cleveland Browns by a score of 31-3. On their first offensive possession of that game, and his first touch, Breida broke off on an 83-yard run for a touchdown.

Not saying that McKinnon will do that on his first offensive touch, but he definitely has the speed to make big plays like that happen.