Kyle Shanahan expects Jerick McKinnon to be 49ers starting RB in 2019

Running back Jerick McKinnon signed a four-year, $30 million deal with the 49ers last offseason. The deal took many by surprise, but the 49ers felt like McKinnon could be the answer after four seasons with the Vikings.

Unfortunately, McKinnon tore his ACL before the season even started, starting his 49ers tenure a bit rocky.

With McKinnon out, the 49ers relied on Matt Breida and Alfred Morris. Even with Breida running for more than 800 yards and averaging 5.3 yards per carry, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday, per Andrew Krammer, that McKinnon will still be the 49ers’ lead running back.

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said Jerick McKinnon still their lead back when he recovers in full. “That’s why we brought him here.”

— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) February 27, 2019

McKinnon, just 26, is extremely dangerous when healthy. He’s not a “give him the ball 30 times!” guy, but he’s dangerous in both the run and pass game, especially in space. We saw that in 2017 with the Vikings when he ran for 570 yards and added another 421 as a receiver.

We’ll see how dynamic he can be in an offense led by Shanahan and Jimmy Garoppolo.