The offseason focus in San Francisco sits mostly on the quarterback situation, yet there are a boatload of other puzzles needing to be put together under new coach Chip Kelly.
On Friday, Kelly discussed many aspects of team with KNBR-AM, including his interactions with Colin Kaepernick. The new coach also dove into the role of running back Carlos Hyde, who had his 2015 cut short due to injury.
"Carlos is a stud. He's been full-go since we started in the beginning of April," Kelly said, via NinerNation.com. "Participated in everything. And he's as advertised. To have someone that size that is that agile, has that vision, it's really impressive to see him work every day. There have been no restrictions on him at all. He's full clear, 100 percent, and he's going. He's really good, we're really excited about him."
Hyde is the clear No. 1 back. How heavy a load Kelly shoulders the back with remains to be seen. The praise of Hyde's agility and vision -- needed for Kelly's bevy of stretch runs -- suggests Kelly has the perfect back for his systemÂ
The Niners have depth at the position in Mike Davis, Shaun Draughn, DuJuan Harris and rookie Kelvin Taylor, but the talent disparity between Hyde and the rest is miles wide. Kelly's NFL history provides little clues as to his plan this season.
In his first two seasons in Philadelphia he rode LeSean McCoy hard, giving the shifty back 314 and 312 carries, respectively. Last year Demarco Murray led the team with just 193 carries.
We'd like to think Hyde could be closer to McCoy's numbers than Murray's numbers, given the third-year back is a perfect fit for the stretch runs Kelly loves. With the 49ers wanting to move fast on offense, it makes sense to keep a back of Hyde's caliber on the field to rack up the runs.
Health could be the only thing that holds Hyde back from having a monster season in Kelly's run-first offense.
