San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and his staff will coach the South squad during the Reese's Senior Bowl on January 26 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Jon Gruden and his Oakland Raiders staff will coach the North squad.
Jim Nagy, the Executive Director of Reese's Senior Bowl, announced the running backs for both squads on Thursday. You can view the players who will be on hand below with the 49ers' squad (South) listed first.
Squad | Running back | School |
South | Bruce Anderson | North Dakota State |
South | Ryquell Armstead | Temple |
South | LJ Scott | Michigan State |
South | Trevon Wesco | West Virginia |
North | Myles Gaskin | Washington |
North | Karan Higdon | Michigan |
North | Alec Ingold | Wisconsin |
North | Jalin Moore | Appalachian State |
North | Dexter Williams | Notre Dame |
The @seniorbowl RB group includes:
Gaskin-UW all-time leading rusher
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) January 10, 2019
Higdon- undersized workhorse
Ingold- athletic true FB
Moore- gritty dude coming off injury Williams- late-bloomer
Anderson- sleeper
Armstead- banger
Scott- a guy with something to prove Wesco- versatile TE/FB pic.twitter.com/7wahTzz9mt
While injuries devastated the position in 2018, the 49ers appear to have a surplus of running backs headed into 2019. Jerick McKinnon, who suffered a torn ACL before the start of the regular season, figures to be healthy and a big part of Shanahan's offense.
Matt Breida's 2018 campaign was also plagued with injuries. He sat out the 49ers' final game of the season after registering 814 rushing yards on 153 carries (5.3 yards per carry) with three touchdowns and adding 27 receptions for 261 yards with two receiving touchdowns through 14 games and 13 starts.
Special teams contributor Raheem Mostert was coming on strong when given the opportunity to carry some of the workload. Unfortunately, his season ended when he suffered a fractured right forearm during a Week 9 contest against the Oakland Raiders. Mostert registered career-highs of 261 rushing yards on 34 carries (7.7 yards per carry) with a touchdown while adding six catches for 25 receiving yards through nine games in 2018.
The 49ers promoted rookie Jeff Wilson from the practice squad on November 24, 2018. He proceeded to rush for 266 yards on 66 attempts while adding 12 receptions for 98 yards.
Mostert and Alfred Morris are the only running backs scheduled to become free agents in March.