San Francisco 49ers rookie running back Carlos Hyde is talented and has a bright future in the NFL, that much is clear. He has the skills and he has the physicality to be an every-down back and an eventual replacement for Frank Gore. But he's struggled off and on this year. In limited time we've seen some solid plays from him, but far too many in which he's stopped behind or at the line of scrimmage.
Recently, Fooch took a look at the running back position for his mid-season review series, and he also talked about Hyde's ability to pick up yards after contact. Again -- he's looked solid often enough to give me confidence personally, but I was wondering where the readers stood on this. More specifically, I want to know about the second half of this season.
The 49ers have a great bye week this season because it's late, and it might represent a good opportunity for the 49ers to evaluate what is and is not working. They've been doing some different things on the offensive side of the ball, particularly with trying to, you know, throw the ball for a change. But I expect, as the season goes on, the 49ers will throw the ball less and go back to their comfort zone.
They'll get creative again when the playoffs come and hopefully that pays off. But I honestly feel like Gore, and by extension Hyde, will get more carries down the stretch than they did in the first half of the season. And I think Hyde will rise to the occasion. It's safe to say that Hyde will be working hard on what he needs to change during this bye week. Obviously, the 49ers' coaches will have plenty of ideas.
Hyde has 161 yards off of 48 carries, which comes out to a per-carry average of 3.4 yards. He also has a pair of touchdowns and honestly, I'm very pleased with what he's been able to do at this point. Outside of significant struggles against the St. Louis Rams and Philadelphia Eagles, I think Hyde has played pretty solid. I personally expect more and more from him as the season goes on.
What say you?