San Francisco 49ers rookie running back Matt Breida (pron. BREE-dah) has a chip on his shoulder. There should have been more hype. He should have been drafted. The Georgia Southern stand out had a tough final season at the school but what about the two prior seasons? In 2014 he carried the ball 171 times for 1485 yards. In 2015 he had 203 carries for 1608. In his final year he only totaled 646 yards on 168 carries, but the 49ers saw through those stats, and for that, he’s grateful.
Although is was a frustrating situation for the running back he says it was it was also very humbling. Breida realizes how much you have to work for everything, and that’s only worked in his favor.
His last season at Georgia Southern was affected by a new offensive system and only one returning offensive starter. Eventhough Brieda was healthy, the offense sputtered. Now with the 49ers, Breida looks to veterans Tim Hightower and Carlos Hyde as mentors, both of which have taken him under their wing reports. Pass protections and picking up blitzes is where he has gotten guidance as well as in learning his tracks and safety rotations.
In his first NFL outing Breida ran predominately up the middle, which is where he enjoys it the most but he’s not opposed to running outside where fellow rookie Joe Williams found himself in Kansas City. Breida feels they can both run inside and out. Breida finished the first game with 11 carries for 40 yards and caught the ball both times he was targeted for 14 yards. He has been steadily moving up the roster taking snaps with the 1s, 2s and 3s. He’s also already started receiving some attention nationally:
I love the way Breida runs. Dude is relentless.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) August 12, 2017
Matt Breida was a freight train last night pic.twitter.com/5RspSJlTr8
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) August 12, 2017