The San Francisco 49ers appear content to go into next season with somewhat limited depth behind Christian McCaffrey on the running back depth chart. The guys behind him are fairly inexperienced, and if they had to shoulder the bulk of the carries, it would be a bit dicey.
Maybe the Niners are content with that, but there’s also a chance they run into the same problem they did last year and simply run out of bodies. So many of their running backs got injured in training camp and the preseason last year that they had to bring in guys like Ameer Abdullah.
It happened, I swear!
They also brought back a familiar face by signing Jeff Wilson, who was with San Francisco for years. He actually made a pretty good push in the preseason for a spot on the 53-man roster, but after the Niners traded for Brian Robinson Jr., it was clear that there wouldn’t be room for Wilson.
He wound up getting scooped back up by the Miami Dolphins, which is the team the Niners traded Wilson to in 2022 after San Francisco acquired McCaffrey in a blockbuster deal with the Carolina Panthers.
Jeff Wilson would merely be a camp body (if 49ers sign him)
Willson hasn’t really done much in recent years. In 2024, he had just 57 rushing yards and had only 188 the year prior. His one solid year in the NFL came in 2022 when he had 860 yards between the 49ers and Dolphins.
Still, he’s a veteran to is very familiar with head coach Kyle Shanahan’s run scheme and remained in a very similar offensive scheme under then-head coach Mike McDaniel in Miami. Injuries happen, and teams simply need guys in pads for training camp or to throw out there in the preseason, so it wouldn’t shock anyone to see Wilson back in the red and gold once again.
Of course, there’s a chance the Los Angeles Chargers scoop him up, too, since McDaniel is now the offensive coordinator over there. We’d all love to see a bidding war between the Chargers and Niners for a practice squad running back.
There’s really no chance Wilson would make the regular-season squad if the Niners signed him unless there were a ton of serious injuries in the running back room, but depth is key this time of year, so keep an eye on Wilson returning to the team that signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2018.
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