SF 49ers free agency: 3 versatile players Kyle Shanahan will want
By Peter Panacy
SF 49ers Free-Agent Target No. 2: Running Back T.J. Yeldon
Like Cordarrelle Patterson, running back T.J. Yeldon never quite reached his draft potential after being selected early in Round 2 of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Yet the Jags did manage to effectively use Yeldon as a dual-threat weapon in 2018 where he amassed 901 yards from scrimmage and a career-best five touchdowns, split almost equally between rushing and receiving stats. That helped him land a two-year stint with the Buffalo Bills, but Buffalo wasn’t overly inclined to make him a big part of its offense.
Still just 28 years old, Yeldon has some time left in his body, particularly as a special-service weapon in certain packages. At 6-foot-1 and 223 pounds, his big-body stature looks more like a wide receiver. And while Yeldon never established himself as a legitimate offensive threat with either the Jaguars or Bills, one should figure his offensive prowess could change under Kyle Shanahan.
The added bonus, of course, is reinforcing a running back room that could lose veterans like Tevin Coleman and Jerick McKinnon.
The SF 49ers spent big money on both of those two the past two-plus seasons, but Yeldon would cost a fraction of the price while adding a versatile piece to the Niners offense.