SF 49ers depth chart: JaMycal Hasty can assume Jerick McKinnon’s role
By Peter Panacy
Jerick McKinnon isn’t coming back to the SF 49ers in 2021, meaning second-year pro JaMycal Hasty could step up on the depth chart.
Soon-to-be ex-SF 49ers running back Jerick McKinnon has made it clear he has no plans on returning to the Niners in 2021, first in an Instagram Live with wide receiver Deebo Samuel and then again on his own Instagram account.
Even if McKinnon said all the right things, it wouldn’t appear as if San Francisco would have much interest in retaining him anyway. While McKinnon regularly found the end zone early last season, scoring in each of the SF 49ers’ first four games, his use dramatically fell off down the stretch despite the team suffering a bevvy of injuries at the position.
One of those injuries was to then-rookie running back, JaMycal Hasty, who suffered a torn ACL in Week 10 against the New Orleans Saints.
Ironically, McKinnon’s own ACL tear back before the 2018 season even began is one parallel he has with Hasty, although that’s not exactly the reason why the latter should assume McKinnon’s role on the depth chart.
Interestingly enough, both players are 5-foot-9 and 205 pounds, giving head coach Kyle Shanahan that short, squatty look of a scatback. Initially, the role Shanahan envisioned with McKinnon was to be a primary third-down receiving back. With the Niners already boasting running backs Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. ahead of Hasty on the depth chart, going to that kind of role might be in Hasty’s best interests.
Hasty’s regular-season stats from last year don’t necessarily stand out in one way or another. While he did impress at times with 148 yards on 39 carries, plus an additional seven receptions for 33 yards, all one needs to do is go back and look at his collegiate numbers from Baylor to see how he can be that kind of third-down dual-threat weapon for San Francisco:
| Rushing | Receiving | Scrimmage | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD |
| *2015 | Baylor | Big 12 | FR | RB | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| *2016 | Baylor | Big 12 | FR | RB | 12 | 119 | 623 | 5.2 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 8.7 | 0 | 122 | 649 | 5.3 | 3 |
| 2017 | Baylor | Big 12 | SO | RB | 8 | 76 | 314 | 4.1 | 1 | 25 | 105 | 4.2 | 0 | 101 | 419 | 4.1 | 1 |
| *2018 | Baylor | Big 12 | JR | RB | 11 | 82 | 434 | 5.3 | 4 | 26 | 170 | 6.5 | 1 | 108 | 604 | 5.6 | 5 |
| *2019 | Baylor | Big 12 | SR | RB | 14 | 109 | 627 | 5.8 | 7 | 25 | 184 | 7.4 | 0 | 134 | 811 | 6.1 | 7 |
| Career | Baylor | 386 | 1998 | 5.2 | 15 | 79 | 485 | 6.1 | 1 | 465 | 2483 | 5.3 | 16 |
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference
Generated 2/6/2021.
Granted, this argument has been made before. Hasty was one of the more exciting undrafted free agents the SF 49ers added after last year’s NFL Draft. His quick-cut, elusive tendencies made for a tough tackle at the collegiate level, and there were flashes of those skills when he graced the field his rookie season.
Hasty will have to return fully healthy, of course. The year after an ACL tear can be awfully challenging for any player, but the change-of-direction needs a running back like Hasty would need to employ could make this even more difficult.
That said, McKinnon’s role on the offense wasn’t exactly one where he needed to be featured. And considering the money spent on the veteran during his three years with the Niners, Shanahan and Co. should feel much better about getting more value out of an undrafted player like Hasty filling that void.
At least for the foreseeable future.
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As long as Hasty returns close to 100 percent in 2021, one should expect him to be a key third-down receiving weapon out of the backfield who can also offer some different looks when either Mostert or Wilson aren’t lining up behind the quarterback.