The Joe Williams hype train got rolling immediately after the draft, and it's kept on chugging.

It was kickstarted by the revelation that new San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan basically begged the team to take Williams in the fourth round, with the 49ers obliging and trading up to nab the former Utah runner.

Then came over-the-top comments about Williams from the organization, coupled with reports questioning incumbent starter Carlos Hyde's fit in Shanahan's scheme. NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal even suggested Hyde could be cut.

Here's the thing about that -- Hyde is a pretty darn good running back and one who was clearly the 49ers' top runner a year ago. It's the NFL, so you never know, but San Fran isn't exactly in a position to let good players walk (read: they stink).

Hyde is going to be an obstacle for Williams, and Tim Hightower could be, as well. But Williams does offer some big-play burst that those two can't, blazing his way to a 4.41 40-yard time (image via PlayerProfiler.com) at the combine.

He only has one season of first-string production on his college résumé -- and it was a shortened nine-game effort -- but Williams made up 34.3% of Utah's total team yards and touchdowns in 2016, per PlayerProfiler.com, despite missing time.

The Niners could be pretty terrible offensively, but if any of the Hyde rumors prove to be true, Williams might get a lot of work right away.