Jordan James And Kaelon Black Have Eight Preseason Carries Between Them
Both spent most of camp hurt and both are back. Sincere McCormick, who is not in the competition, has sixteen carries, ninety-one yards and the longest San Francisco run of the preseason.
The 49ers have played two preseason games. Kaelon Black has carried the ball eight times in them and Jordan James has not carried it once. Those two are the backup running back competition.
Sincere McCormick, who is not in that competition and who this board has outside the projected 53, has 16 carries for 91 yards. Both figures come off the box scores of the August 13 loss to Tennessee and the August 20 win at the Chargers.
What Black did. He carried eight times for 33 yards at SoFi Stadium, longest run of nine, no touchdown, and he was not targeted in the passing game. That was his first preseason appearance. He had missed the opener, and he had missed practice from Day 6 of camp with an adductor injury, returning on Day 14 at the joint session in El Segundo. The club's own recap of that day has him in full pads with carries through team and red-zone periods and a touchdown at the goal line.
Brock Purdy, in the club's own account of that afternoon: "I thought he looked good hitting the hole and running hard. You could tell there's a different level of intensity when he touches the ball." Kyle Shanahan, the same day: "He looked good from what I saw. It was his first practice back." (49ers.com, August 18)
What James did. Nothing, in either game. He fractured a rib in late July and practised on Saturday for the first time in pads since July 29, twenty-four days (NBC Sports, August 22). Marc Adams had him turning the corner and taking off in Sunday's team work (49ers Webzone, August 23).
James is in his second season, out of Oregon. Black, a rookie out of Indiana, is two years older: 24 to James's 22. That stops being a curiosity the moment one of them has to be cut.
What happened while both of them were unavailable. San Francisco changed the composition of the room five times between August 2 and August 20, and the men it brought in did the carrying. McCormick has the 16 for 91, an average of 5.7, a seven-yard touchdown at the Chargers and a 37-yard run there that is the longest any 49er has produced this preseason. Against Tennessee the whole team's longest was 10. Zamir White, signed August 12, has 14 carries for 30 yards, an average of 2.1. Khalil Herbert, signed August 2, released August 17 and re-signed August 20, has 10 carries for 35 yards and a touchdown.
Isaac Guerendo is on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list with a torn pectoral muscle. Patrick Taylor Jr., whose only preseason carries produced minus five yards and a touchdown, went to Reserve/Injured on August 20 and is ineligible for the initial 53. The club's active table carries six running backs and a fullback.
Christian McCaffrey came back on Sunday and the two accounts of it do not quite agree. Nick Wagoner has him at roughly seven reps in team drills (ESPN camp file, August 23). Adams has roughly a half dozen snaps in one team period, including a carry he broke for more than 25 yards. Neither has him restricted.
And there is one more job in the room, which the club has not settled either. Four different men have returned kickoffs in the two preseason games: Will Pauling three and McCormick one against Tennessee, Jordan Watkins two and Herbert one at the Chargers. Neither Black nor James is among them. Wagoner has both of them working in Sunday's kick return combinations. Adams' account of the same practice carries no return work at all.
What is left. Practice at 10:15 on Tuesday with a media availability after it, a walk-through closed to the media on Wednesday, and the finale at Las Vegas at 5:00pm PT on Thursday, all of it off the club's published practice and media schedule for the week. The roster comes to 53 at 3:00pm PT on Sunday.
So the competition gets one practice and one game. McCormick, White and Herbert have each had two games.
Called shot. Kaelon Black returns at least one kickoff at Las Vegas on August 27. Scored off the official game book's kickoff return table. If San Francisco rests him, or if every Las Vegas kickoff is a touchback, this grades WRONG rather than unresolved.
Already on the ledger, filed August 22 and not re-filed here: Sincere McCormick plays more offensive snaps than Jordan James at Las Vegas on August 27.
Sources: ESPN box scores of the August 13 and August 20 games; 49ers.com Day 14 training camp recap, August 18; the 49ers roster page and transaction log, August 24; Nick Wagoner, ESPN camp file, August 23; Marc Adams, 49ers Webzone, August 23; David Bonilla, 49ers Webzone, August 21 and August 22; NBC Sports, August 22.
