The San Francisco 49ers have really struggled in the run game to start the season, being one of the most inefficient rushing attacks in the NFL to date.
Running back Christian McCaffrey has been peppered with volume, ranking second in the NFL with 108 carries. But, he’s only 20th in yards, going for 336, which equates to 3.1 yards per carry. Yikes.
His backup, Brian Robinson Jr. hasn’t been all that efficient either, averaging only 4.0 yards per carry on 27 attempts.
The 49ers don’t have a single rush over 20 yards this year after Jordan Mason had nine a season ago, and McCaffrey had nine in 2023 when averaging 5.4 yards per carry.
Red zone running has remained a problem as well. McCaffrey has 25 carries inside the 20-yard line, which is third in the NFL, but has only 34 red zone rushing yards. The main issue has been between the 20 and 10-yard line, where McCaffrey averages just 1.25 yards per carry.
On the contrary, Jonathan Taylor, who leads the league with 31 attempts in the red zone, is averaging 4.3 yards per attempt between the 20 and 10-yard line. For Jahmyr Gibbs, who has the second most attempts at 27, it’s 3.9 yards per carry between that range.
When it comes to the 49ers run game, there have been issues across the board. Naturally, instinct points to the offensive line, where the interior group, specifically guards Connor Colby and Dominick Puni, has struggled.
But, that’s not all the issues. The tight ends and wide receivers have really struggled to block on the outsides, which is a reflection of the team’s injuries. George Kittle has been missing, as have Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel from a year ago. Pair that with Jauan Jennings being nowhere near 100 percent, and you’re relying on Kendrick Bourne and Demarcus Robinson for blocks, where the standard is much lower.
Well, Kittle is slated to make his return this week, which should provide a boost to the 49ers run game. Yes, he’s only one player, but the standard is significantly higher when Kittle is on the field as opposed to Jake Tonges and Luke Farrell.
There are questions about Christian McCaffrey’s burst, which looks diminished compared to his 2023 self, but San Francisco should be able to find more efficiency with better blocking in front of the running back.
Now, will it come this week? That’s unclear, but San Francisco is facing an Atlanta defense that ranks 17th in rush yards allowed per game (114.0) and 27th in yards per carry (4.8). However, the Falcons are the best passing defense in the NFL, so it will be important to get positive yardage on early downs, which the team knows.
“I think it’s important to just have positive runs, whether it’s two yards, one yard, just staying ahead of the sticks to give us a chance,” wide receiver Kendrick Bourne said ahead of the week. “I think that’s how you want to play. You don’t want to just try to take shots [and] not trying to do anything that we don’t normally do. I think that’ll keep us in a good position to just help control the game.”
San Francisco needs its run game to start picking things up. With Kittle back, that may finally start becoming a reality.
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