Are the 49ers Getting the Most out of Their Backfield?

The true power source of the San Francisco 49ers offense is still on the ground. The running game is their motor and heartbeat, often leaning on the read-option and the threat of Colin Kaepernick scrambling.

But two games into this season with the backfield tandem of Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde, it’s fair to explore what will become a critical question. Is the workload being shared effectively?

The answer? Probably not...yet.

It gets late early in the NFL, and two games isn’t nothing. In a few days, that will become three games for every team, and the league will already be close to the quarter mark of the season. The time to reassess and install significant early-season adjustments is now, and the Niners should make a small but important one in their backfield by giving Hyde more work.

But before we continue much further here, allow me to yell something from a rooftop: Frank Gore is amazing, and he should have a special place in your football heart. He had a 54-yard touchdown during Sunday’s loss to the Bears called back on a holding call that was, to put it politely, absolutely brutal and the worst (was that polite?).

At one point during that game, this happened, and for a few moments, you forgot all about Carlos Hyde’s existence.

The final split between the two was only a bit better for Hyde. He was no longer in negative yardage, so that's something, right? Gore finished with 56 rushing yards, while Hyde had a nice, round zero.

But although he was effective, that split tells only a half truth. Hyde did nothing because he wasn’t given much of a chance to do anything. Anything at all.

Hyde was given only four carries in that game, while Gore received 13. That advantage for Gore is also reflected in the overall totals for both running backs through two weeks.

	Carries	Yards	Touchdowns	% of workload
Frank Gore	29	129	1	72.5%
Carlos Hyde	11	50	1	27.5%

As effective as he’s been, the reality of Gore’s age and NFL experience follows him. He’s 31 years old and in his 10th NFL season, and over that lengthy career, he’s logged 2,549 career touches.

The last number there is the most important and is the true gauge of a running back’s mileage instead of age. Though they may care little because Gore is in the final year of his contract, his odometer should encourage Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh to dial it back and ensure their lead runner is as fresh as possible during the latter half of the season.

A few years ago, LeagueSafe Post's Ryan Boser did some data diving. His approach was from a fantasy football angle, but what he found is relevant to both fake and real football. After looking at production from top running backs over the previous 12 seasons, a downward spike was generally evident at the 2,600-touch mark.

Gore will hit that plateau sometime over the next two to three games. Although he’s still chugging, a gradual slowdown has been evident. Over his final 10 games last year (including playoffs), he averaged 59.2 rushing yards and only 3.7 per carry.

That’s plodding over a sizable chunk of what was a 19-game season. And despite his effectiveness early this year, the large gains are trumped by far more dust clouds.

Negative Yards	0-4 Yards	5-11 Yards	12-16 Yards	+17 Yards
2	14	7	1	2

A fresh Gore is the best Gore. Although I would believe you if you told me his bones are made of titanium, that hasn’t been scientifically proved yet. And time is a mighty, undefeated foe.

The motivation to use Hyde much more and get closer to a 65-35 workload percentage split in favor of Gore goes beyond long-term goals. It will also help Gore to be more effective as a pounding presence later in games.

Look at the chart above again, and note that those two long runs (the 20-yarder and the 54-yarder that turned into a 19-yard gain after the penalty) both came early. The 20-yard run was Gore’s first carry of the game in Week 1, and the nullified touchdown occurred midway through the second quarter on his fifth touch.

So far, Gore has averaged 2.3 yards per carry during the second half of games this season on 19 attempts. That comes after a pace of 3.8 per carry during the second half throughout the playoffs last January, even with a key 39-yard run during a divisional-round win over the Panthers.

That ability to suddenly burst through a hole late in a game needs to be maintained, because Gore’s vision to find said hole is still working at a high level.

We saw that in Week 1 during his aforementioned first carry that went for 20 yards. After an audible and a line shift, Gore ran up the middle. As the play developed, he was faced with a decision as his left foot hit the ground. His body was in a position to either plant and abruptly cut right or lower his pads to accelerate through the mess of bodies and into the second level.

NFL Game Rewind

Gore chose the red path. He stayed disciplined without diverting from the intended downhill play design despite a possible split-second temptation.

The value of that vision won’t fade. But in time Gore’s legs will, and he needs both operating at high levels to be successful.

This is a team that will add defensive talent as the year progresses when NaVorro Bowman returns from his injury and Aldon Smith's suspension ends. It's a team built for January and one that needs to preserve whatever is left in Gore's beaten body after nearly a decade of football.

That's why right now a little bit less of Gore could lead to a whole lot more later.