We can look at the above and say “Tevin Coleman will lead this backfield, ok, but is that enough? Could this still be an infuriating timeshare?” I’d argue that’s unlikely. Coleman’s competition is not particularly stiff and the 49ers will use their RBs more than most teams, both as rushers and receiving options.

Jerick McKinnon is a QB-turned-RB with an incredible athletic profile. After four seasons with the Vikings, the 49ers signed him to a lucrative contract in 2018. The inaugural campaign would be cut short by a preseason ACL injury, making 2019 his official debut season with the team. To put it nicely, McKinnon has been uneven throughout his career, repeatedly failing to seize a starting job despite underwhelming backfield competition. In two straight seasons, he has averaged under 4.0 YPC and while he has served as an effective receiver, Coleman has been markedly more efficient. There isn’t an area where Mckinnon wins that Coleman doesn’t win better.

Matt Breida, talented in his own right, is sub-200 lbs and Kyle Shanahan has made it a personal mission to relegate him to obscurity. “How so?” you ask. In Breida’s rookie year, Carlos Hyde received 88 targets in the passing game. He dropped 14 of them. “Ok, maybe the coaching staff didn’t trust the rookie.” In 2018, Breida’s sophomore campaign, the 49ers paid Jerick McKinnon handsomely to assume lead back duties.

As history relays, McKinnon went down with a knee injury, but did that open up the door for Breida? Not if Kyle Shanahan would have anything to say about it, doing everything short of a seance to resurrect the corpse of Alfred Morris, who would go on to start multiple games and absorb all the aforementioned goal-line opportunities. An appropriate player comparison for Breida is Austin Ekeler and there’s nothing wrong with that. But Austin Ekeler needs to be Austin Ekeler, not Melvin Gordon. Perhaps “relegate him to obscurity” is harsh, but Shanahan clearly sees Breida as a change of pace option.