The San Francisco 49ers have been the most injured team in the NFL over the last several seasons. Still, somehow, they have churned out four winning campaigns and two Super Bowl appearances in the last six years.
Unfortunately, the injury bug is already running rampant through Niners camp again, especially at running back. Isaac Gurenedo and Jordan James both went down with injuries, then replacements like Patrick Taylor Jr., Corey Kiner and Ameer Abdullah all suffered significant injuries as well.
This is far from ideal for a running back room, especially one with an injury-prone starter like Christian McCaffrey.
On Friday, general manager John Lynch sought to mitigate this by trading for Brian Robinson Jr., who may be an immediate fix.
However, his presence will hinder a rookie's development.
Brian Robinson Jr. trade could spell doom for Jordan James
James was in line to be the 49ers' third running back on the depth chart this season after being taken in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Oregon. Unfortunately, with Robinson now in the fold, he is no more than a fourth-stringer and potentially on the fringe of the roster.
It would be highly unlikely for the team to cut James and subject him to the waiver wire, so San Francisco will likely cut both Jeff Wilson Jr. and Ke'Shawn Vaughn.
But regardless, James will be buried in the 49ers' running back room upon his return from a finger injury.
Fifth-round rookies are not typically expected to play major roles right away, but the opportunity was certainly there for James to do so. His only hope in gaining ground back would be to beat Guerendo back to practice, but Guerendo returned earlier this week, and James is still sidelined.
RELATED: How Brian Robinson Jr. trade impacts Christian McCaffrey's future with 49ers
The hope is that James is still ready to go by Week 1 for the season opener on the road against the Seattle Seahawks. Guerendo seems to be on track, and both Robinson and McCaffrey are healthy and ready to be an interesting one-two punch for head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense.
But the trade for Robinson is a devastating blow for the rookie, as the team's urgency in acquiring him means that either James' injury is worse than they originally thought, or they felt that they needed to make an immediate upgrade in the room.
Regardless, it's hard to imagine that James will have much of a role in the 49ers' offense this season.
But, based on how rapidly things have changed already at the position this offseason, I suppose we never know.