San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch was asked Wednesday about a report that indicated the team is ready to “give up” on running back Carlos Hyde.
The report indicated the 49ers were “seriously considering” using the No. 2 overall pick select Leonard Fournette as a replacement for Hyde, who has struggled to stay healthy his first two seasons in the NFL.
Responding to this report, Lynch did not completely dismiss it but indicated the 49ers are very excited to see what Hyde can do in Kyle shanahan’s offense.
“I think as a player one of the great things about this league and, frankly, what drove me to get back into it is that you’re always proving yourself,” Lynch said, per Eric Branch of SFGate.com. “Particularly when there is a new regime. I hope Carlos feels that way, but I also can tell you that we’re really high on him and what he might be able to do in this offense. We think he can be a highly productive player, but we’re eager to see.
“You have these thoughts as to ‘Do these skills translate to what we do?’” Lynch said. “He’s a very talented young man. We are very excited and hopeful, just in the interactions that we’ve had, that he’s come ready to play.”
When healthy, Hyde is a tremendously dynamic running back who combines raw power with an elite spin move that had our jaws on the floor more than once.
When your spin move pays off…#CarlosHyde (@elguapo) doing Carlos Hyde things // #NFL #9ers pic.twitter.com/MIoa8h4w63
— Captured NFL (@CapturedNFL) September 22, 2015
The 49ers selected Hyde in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. He’s put up 1,791 career yards and has averaged 4.3 yards a carry, scoring 13 career touchdowns on the ground.
Unfortunately he’s also missed 14 games due to multiple injuries. So it’s safe to say there is a bit of a concern he can stay healthy enough to be a key cog in Shanahan’s offense in the years to come.