Bruce Ellington's Versatility a Bonus for San Francisco 49ers

Running back LaMichael James asked for (and was granted) his release earlier this week, in part because James was beaten out for punt-return duties by fourth-round rookie Bruce Ellington.

Well, if practices this week in San Francisco are any indication, the 49ers may have much more in mind for Ellington than just punt returns.

In fact, there may even be hopes of Ellington being the player they thought they were getting with James back in 2012.

As Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News reports, Ellington worked with the running backs in practice Thursday, and with only two healthy backs on the roster in Carlos Hyde and Frank Gore, Ellington may serve in James' old role as the No. 3 back against the Chicago Bears:

Roman talked up Ellington's ability as a ball-carrier while speaking with Inman, while cautioning that the team is taking things slow with the youngster:

"

He’s definitely a guy you can do some of that stuff with. We don’t want to put too much on his plate at once. But he’s a football player. He gets things. It makes sense to him. I’m excited to see how he evolves with what we’re doing.

"

Now, at least part of this little experiment is borne of necessity. As we just said, the 49ers have only two healthy tailbacks on the active roster.

However, it's an interesting experiment nonetheless.

After all, there wasn't much that Ellington didn't do with a football in his hands at the University of South Carolina.

In addition to catching 49 passes for 775 yards and eight touchdowns last year for the Gamecocks, Ellington also had 25 career carries for them. The 5'9", 197-pounder returned kicks and punts.

He even threw a nine-yard touchdown pass last year.

Oh, and Ellington also played point guard for the South Carolina basketball team, averaging just over 11 points a game over the past three seasons.

In short, Bruce Ellington oozes athleticism.

Now this isn't to say that Bruce is going to follow in cousin Andre's footsteps and suddenly morph into an NFL featured back.

For starters, the Niners don't need one, or want one. San Francisco is very much a power-running team, in that regard Gore is their present and Hyde their future.

Besides, according to Nolan Nawrocki of NFL.com's scouting report on Ellington done prior to the NFL draft, there's an elephant in the room where using Ellington as a running back is concerned.

Nawrocki wrote that Ellington "is short and small-framed -- durability could be an issue," adding that he demonstrated "limited run strength."

Still, that hardly means there aren't ways to get Eliington the ball out of the backfield that will allow him to best utilize his athleticism.

You could certainly do worse for a pass-catching back than a converted wide receiver. The zone read opens up some interesting possibilities with motion sweeps and pitches.

Or, the 49ers can line Ellington up in the backfield and then motion him out wide, in an effort to create a mismatch with a slower linebacker or safety in coverage.

In short, it offers the team options in the backfield, personnel groupings that just aren't on the table with Gore or Hyde.

Mind you, this isn't to say that Ellington is going to become the 49ers' version of Percy Harvin. Sure, the Niners would love that, but let's not get nuts.

However, it isn't outside the realm of reason that Ellington could evolve into a Dexter McCluster-type for the 49ers.

And when you're in the same division as the Seattle Seahawks, you can use all the help you can get.

Gary Davenport is an NFL Analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPManor.