Carlos Hyde Is Future of 49ers' Running Game, but Frank Gore Must Be the Present

This is not rocket science. Frank Gore is a future Hall of Famer.

The 49ers have blown 17-7 and 14-6 halftime leads in their last two games. In the second half of those games, Gore has accumulated seven carries, and the 49ers have been outscored 38-3.

In order for the 49ers to find success and improve on their 1-2 record, Gore must see a sizable increase in his workload. When Gore is playing well, San Francisco plays well. It's that simple.

By the Numbers

6	Carries by Gore in Week 3 at Arizona, matching his fewest in a game for non-injury purposes since Week 13 in 2005
15-2	49ers' record in Colin Kaepernick starts when Gore gets 15-plus carries
3-6	49ers' record over that same span when Gore gets fewer than 15 carries
37	Number of passes attempted by Kaepernick last week at Arizona
2-5	49ers' record when Kaepernick has 30-plus pass attempts
16-3	49ers' record when Kaepernick throws fewer than 30 times

Gore is the 49ers' all-time leader in rushing attempts, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns and 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He ranks second among active players in rushing attempts, third in rushing yards and fifth in rushing touchdowns. And even at 31 years old, he still rushed for over 1,100 yards last season.

And as head coach Jim Harbaugh told Taylor Price of 49ers.com before this season: "Past performance often times predicts future success. Frank has been one of the top backs in the National Football League and I see that continuing. Frank gets football. Frank understands football. Frank keeps himself in tremendous shape."

So why is he only carrying the ball six times?

As Ryan McCrystal noted after the game, the 49ers have found the perfect recipe for not winning games:

Last season, the 49ers also started the season 1-2, then went on an 11-2 run to finish the season after increasing Gore’s workload. He averaged 13.7 carries through Week 3 and 18.1 carries the rest of the way.

Comcast SportsNet's Paul Gutierrez reported Gore will go back to being the 49ers' bell cow running back this week.

The 49ers' recipe for success is running Frank Gore behind their talented offense line, which seems likely to get Anthony Davis back for this week’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. They need to sprinkle in a dash of Colin Kaepernick and take the pressure off their young signal-caller rather than relying on him throwing 30 times or more.

And where does Carlos Hyde fit in this equation?

The 49ers have drafted a running back every year in the Trent Baalke era, dating back to 2010. As Gore plays out the final year of his contract, it appears San Francisco has found his eventual long-term replacement.

As Harbaugh said when the 49ers drafted Hyde: "Couldn’t be a better situation for [Hyde] to be in that position. Frank Gore is the person that all the young guys talk about because he has such an affinity for young backs. Has the ability to teach and to mentor all the young backs that we’ve had here every single year."

San Francisco should mix in Hyde from time to time, but he should be viewed more as a complementary piece for this season (and the feature back of the future) rather than a workhorse tailback, especially with Gore still in the fold.

Gore has been the catalyst for the 49ers brand of football since the arrival of Harbaugh. Hyde's time will come, but this is still Gore's team to carry. Gore provides experience and veteran leadership, which no other running back on the roster can offer.

For now, Hyde’s role is serving as Gore’s understudy.

And as a reminder to slow the roll on the Carlos Hyde hype, he’s combined for 13 yards on seven carries over his last two games after rushing for 50 yards and a touchdown on seven carries in his NFL debut.

While Gore has been in on 120 offensive snaps, compared to Hyde’s 52 snaps, to date, CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco noted following last week’s loss that four wide receivers saw more action than Gore.

That’s not the 49ers blueprint, but they can still turn their season around if they revert to their hard-nosed, smashmouth style of football.