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49ers Backfield

Pass-catching role for McKinnon?

San Francisco recently restructured Jerick McKinnon's contract. It's a polite way of saying he took a huge paycut to stay on the roster. McKinnon hasn't played a regular-season down in two years with the team, so no one should be expecting him to make any kind of impact this year, either.

But beat writer Matt Maiocco isn't writing McKinnon off. He thinks McKinnon, for his pass-catching ability, will have a spot on the team. If healthy; that's the obvious caveat. But Maiocco thinks McKinnon's receiving potential offers something the other backs -- Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman and Matt Breida -- don't have.

I had to dust off the old files, what with McKinnon being on the shelf for two entire seasons due to knee issues. But Maiocco has a point. Back in 2016-2017, McKinnon had more receptions than all but eight other running backs.

RUNNING BACK RECEIVING, 2016-2017
PlayerNo(16)Yds(16)No(17)Yds(17)No(Tot)Yds(Tot)
LeVeon Bell75616856551601271
Duke Johnson53514746931271207
James White6055156429116980
LeSean McCoy5035659448109804
Todd Gurley43327647881071115
Theo Riddick5337153444106815
Mark Ingram4631958416104735
Melvin Gordon414195847699895
Jerick McKinnon432555142194676
DeMarco Murray533773926692643
Devonta Freeman544623631790779
Chris Thompson493493951088859
David Johnson8087966786946
Carlos Hyde271635935086513
Giovani Bernard393364338982725
Alvin Kamara----8182681826
Bilal Powell583882317081558
Christian McCaffrey----8065180651
T.J. Yeldon503123022480536
Kyle Juszczyk372663331570581
Isaiah Crowell403192818268501
Lamar Miller311883632767515
Frank Gore382772924567522
Matt Forte302633729367556
Devontae Booker312653027561540
Darren Sproles5242777359500
Charles Sims241903524959439
Ezekiel Elliott323632626958632
Tevin Coleman314212729958720
Jalen Richard291942725656450
Travaris Cadet402811611956400
Shane Vereen11944425355347
Charcandrick West281882715055338
Tarik Cohen----5335853358
Kareem Hunt----5345553455
Jordan Howard292982312552423
Andre Ellington12853936951454
Jay Ajayi271512415851309
DeAndre Washington171153419751312
Dion Lewis17943221449308
Javorius Allen3154625049265
Latavius Murray332641510348367
Rex Burkhead171453025447399
C.J. Anderson161282822444352
Damien Williams232492015543404
Kenyan Drake9463223941285
Chris Ivory201862117541361

Worth noting that McKinnon didn't do a ton with his receptions. If you sort the above list by yards, he drops behind seven other running backs. That includes finishing behind Tevin Coleman, who caught 36 fewer passes those two seasons but finished with 44 more yards than McKinnon. Hmm.

I don't think anyone should have much optimism for McKinnon. Raheem Mostert looks like the back to own in San Francisco, and probably Coleman will be the No. 2. McKinnon and Matt Breida are competing for that third spot.

But the way Breida was phased out down the stretch last year, Maiocco believes he's a roster longshot, and that a healthy McKinnon -- should that actually happen -- is more likely to be there. If you're holding onto Breida in dynasty, your best hope might be that he lands on another roster with a more significant role than he could expect if he sticks in San Francisco.

--Andy Richardson

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