The 49ers might be preparing to hand a high-value job to a player with little NFL experience. According to The Athletic's Matt Barrows, second-year RB Jordan James "appears to be the frontrunner to be the top backup this season." San Francisco drafted James in the fifth round last year, but an injury-plagued summer kept him from competing for a regular-season roster spot. James didn't touch the ball until the playoff loss to Seattle (six carries and one catch at the end of a blowout).
Barrows: "[HC Kyle] Shanahan noted that James was injured last summer and fell behind in the pecking order because of it, but got stronger as the season progressed."
Shanahan on how many will get work in season: "We're not a big three-man rotation. You've got to be that one or two guy to be in there."
Barrows called Isaac Guerendo the second-best receiving RB for last year's 49ers but noted that Shanahan said Guerendo fell behind James as a runner by the end of the season.
Barrows adds that Guerendo needs to improve his rushing if he hopes to grab this year's No. 2 spot, while James could use a boost in receiving.
Guerendo's heading into his third year with the team and didn't play a single offensive snap in 2025. That obviously bodes ill for his chances of a rebound, especially after he ranked second among 49ers in carries the year before.
James split time with Bucky Irving in the 2023 backfield at Oregon, beating his teammate in both yards per carry (7.1 to 6.3) and yards per catch (8.8 to 7.4). He took over the Ducks backfield after Irving left for the NFL and posted these numbers:
Winning the No. 2 job in San Francisco obviously wouldn't carry much immediate fantasy value, but it would make James the heir to loads of potential touches in case Christian McCaffrey went down.
McCaffrey played every game last season but lost 13 of them to injury the year before.
James has climbed from undrafted to Round 18 in best ball ADP since February, according to our ADP Market Index. But he still makes plenty of sense at cost.
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