An injury to fullback Kyle Juszczyk throws a wrench into a 49ers offense that’s been humming through its first four games. Juszczyk is supposed to miss four to six weeks, so the 49ers tried out a group of fullbacks Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
Yates reported the 49ers had in George Aston, Tommy Bohanon, Michael Burton, Derrick Coleman, Tre Madden, Ricky Ortiz and Aaron Ripkowski as they search for a short-term replacement for Juszczyk.
San Francisco relies on a fullback more often than any team in the league. They use 21 personnel (two running backs and one tight end) 36 percent of the time, according to Sharp Football Stats. The league average is 8 percent. The 49ers go with 22 personnel (two running backs and two tight ends) on 16 percent of their offensive snaps. The league average is 3 percent.
It’s hard to imagine the 49ers simply try to alter their offense while Juszczyk is out. They’ll do something to replace his snaps, which may mean bringing in a new body. That would require cutting another player off the 53-man roster, though. They may be hesitant to do that with injuries and depth issues at other positions.
San Francisco may also look in-house for a replacement. Undrafted rookie tight end Daniel Helm is on the practice squad and played some fullback in the preseason. Bringing him up to the active roster would also require releasing someone.
There’s also a scenario where they don’t add anyone, change up their personnel groupings and use players like Ross Dwelley and George Kittle to try and make up for Juszczyk’s absence.
The 49ers have to make a decision soon ahead of Sunday’s game against the Rams in Los Angeles. If they do promote Helm, that likely won’t happen until later in the week.
