The San Francisco 49ers haven't been prime real estate for running backs in the past few years. But with how well Jimmy Garoppolo played at the end of 2017, they very well could be in the future. That amplifies the importance of how well Matt Breida played during his rookie season.
Unlike Jones, Breida's work largely came in tandem alongside Carlos Hyde. So we could have a bit of the "fresh legs" factor in the works here, but Breida performed well when given opportunities.
Here's a look at what each guy did this past season.
| In 2017 | Rushes | Rushing NEP per Carry | Success Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Hyde | 240 | -0.09 | 35.83% |
| Matt Breida | 105 | 0.03 | 41.90% |
Hyde finished 33rd in Success Rate out of 47 running backs with at least 100 carries; Breida was eighth. This is while playing in similar situations. Breida simply outperformed the incumbent.
This is doubly important because Hyde is scheduled to become a free agent this offseason. If the 49ers believe in Breida's talent, they could simply move on and let Hyde sign elsewhere. And there's plenty of reason to think they do believe in Breida.
All the way back in August, ESPN's Adam Schefter mentioned on JJ Zachariason's The Late-Round Podcast that the team was falling in love with Breida. Keep in mind, this was before Breida played in an actual game and was simply an undrafted rookie on their roster. They clearly saw more from Breida during the season as he played at least 25% of the snaps in each of the final five games, taking some work off of Hyde's plate.
The team doesn't have much invested in Breida, and that makes buying into him risky for fantasy. They could always elect to bring Hyde back, which would obviously squeeze Breida out of the picture. But there are signs that this team does like what they have seen, and we know there's potential upside, assuming Garoppolo comes back. That would seemingly be enough to warrant trying to acquire Breida before the cost increases.