Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers’ wide receiver core has been the talk of the team for most of this month. A close second has been the running back room. Christian McCaffrey has reportedly looked like himself during training camp and at practice. However, it’s everybody behind him that comes with a giant question mark or asterisk.
Isaac Guerendo recently returned to practice after missing the majority of August with a shoulder injury. Rookie Jordan James remains out with a broken finger. Rookie Corey Kiner reverted to the team’s Injured Reserve after he wasn’t claimed on waivers after the 49ers waived him. Kiner is out for the season now with a high-ankle sprain. Patrick Taylor Jr. is also on the Injured Reserve. So, behind McCaffrey and Guerendo are currently Jeff Wilson and Ke’Shawn Vaughn.
According to multiple national reports, the 49ers are trading a 2026 sixth-round pick for Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson. This is the second trade between these teams in 2025 after Deebo Samuel was shipped to D.C. this past offseason.
Robinson enters the final year of his contract with a $3.4 million salary. The 26-year-old will hardly put a dent in the Niners’ salary cap for this season, as they have the third-most cap space in the NFL.
Robinson, 6’2″, 225 pounds, has 570 career rushing attempts. Experience isn’t an issue for the former third-rounder pick out of Alabama. He averaged 4.3 yards per carry last season with eight touchdowns, and caught 20 passes last season.
Per Next Gen Stats, Robinson was far more effective outside of the tackles. His yards per carry go up by more than a half yard, and his yards after contact increase by 1.1 yards. Despite having more than half the attempts rushing outside of the tackle, Robinson’s acceleration shines on these types of runs, too. Robinson had 60 carries outside of the tackles and reached 15 miles per hour on 13 of those. He also had eight carries of at least 10+ yards.
Robinson found himself on the injury report multiple times in 2024. He suffered a knee strain in September that caused him to miss a game. At the end of October, Robinson pulled his hamstring/had a sprain that kept him out of he next two games. Robinson missed another game in November after injuring his ankle in Week 12.
Robinson missed two games in December 2023 with a Grade 1 hamstring pull. He suffered injuries at Alabama, including back spasms and a chest/rib injury that kept him out of a game in 2021.
One of the 49ers’ biggest issues last season was their inefficiency in the red zone. They could not run the ball without McCaffrey. You’d think that would be Robinson’s strength, but he had 24 red zone carries last season for 43 yards. Robinson did score seven touchdowns, but those numbers...
