Will Frank Gore or Carlos Hyde lead the 49ers in rushing against the Bears?

I tallied up the Bills’ rushing numbers against the Bears Week 1.

The Bills gained 22 rushing yards on 7 direct handoffs — 3.1 yards per carry.

The Bills gained 154 rushing yards on 21 read-option plays — 7.3 yards per carry.

With that in mind, who do you think will lead the 49ers rushing Sunday Night against the Bears — Frank Gore or Carlos Hyde — and why?

This article has 46 Comments

  1. Grant, I think you’re onto something. I’ve been reading from other sources that the Bears really struggle to guard the read option and your stats from the Bills game reinforce that. Kaepernick is much better at running the RO than EJ Manuel and Hyde is extremely dynamic out of that set.

    I’m actually going to predict that Hyde not only has more yards than Gore this week, but Kaepernick breaks at least a 30+ yard keeper TD off the read option (like we saw quite a few times in 2012). On one of the Hyde RO handoffs, the DE is going to crash too quickly and Kap will keep it and run around the edge and outrace the defense to the end zone.

    1. Could happen. Manuel kept it and ran just one time on read-option plays against the Bears last week. He had room to run a few times if he had kept it.

    2. The Bears will come into this game focusing on the RO so they might have more success stopping it than they did against the Bills. My guess is the Niners run a lot of power and mix in the RO which leads me to believe Gore will still have the majority of carries and yards. I’d love to see Hyde get more touches but Gore is still the starter, at least for now.

      1. Rocket,

        Chicago doesn’t have the personnel to be effective against the RO. Their LBs Lance Briggs, DJ Williams are older and slow. While Jonathan Bostic and Shea McClellin are young, they lack top level instincts.

        1. Nick,

          No argument there, but their extra focus on stopping it may open up the power game the Niners love to go to with Gore. FWIW, I think they’ll run both but I see Gore getting more carries when they ultimately focus on the off tackle power stuff.

      2. It’s very possible the Niners make shlemiels out of them, as they did opening game last season when the Packers were all geared up to stop the RO. Look for a big big passing game.

  2. Grant, long term question. Do you think we’ll see Lattimore after week 6 and specifically in RO situations like they’re presently doing with Hyde?

    Also, what do you think of Hyde’s ability to run in traditional power sets?

    1. If Lattimore ever plays, yes, I think the Niners would get him the ball on read-option plays, draws, screens and swing passes out of the backfield.

      1. Grant,

        You must have some insight to have said “If Lattimore ever plays”. Do you think his prognosis is that bad? What do you know about where he is at and how he is progressing?

      2. I wrote a post about Lattimore and it’s disappeared along with another post I wrote about the LB’s. What the heck is going on here?

  3. More on the Bears defense of the read option from Matt Maiocco:

    Matt Maiocco ‏@MaioccoCSN 30s
    In first game with Bills, ex-49ers RB Anthony Dixon had career-high 47-yard run on read option vs. Bears. Previous best was 34 as rookie

    Anthony freakin’ Dixon did this. Hyde has to be licking his chops.

    1. what the f? This comment makes no sense. Ar u saying hyde can beat the 47 yard run? BULL S**8

  4. I’m sticking with my prediction before the season started that Gore will lead in carries and Hyde will lead in yards per carry with total yards being fairly close. Why? Because Gore will still be getting both direct handoffs and read-option carries while Hyde will be getting mostly or exclusively read-option carries.

      1. Another thing we might see is that in 3rd and 3 and 3rd and 4 is that if Gore is in it will likely be a pass play, but if Hyde is in it could also be a running play because of his higher YPC.

  5. Grant,
    Working the agenda card huh?
    Who cares which RB gains more yards as long as they both propel the team to a win.
    But I guess I’m a glutton for punishment so I’ll play along.
    Gore 78
    Hyde 52
    Ellington 37

    1. I like you thinking. seriously, Niners have never been the best running team. But their passing, unique offense, and defense lead them to wins. Gore is beast thouhg, but he is getting old. I like the rookie hyde, but I don’t think he’s rookie of the year caliber yet. I think he’ll be good, however, but I think sunday gore will be a main runner with 70-100 yards. Hyde will probably get 45-60 yards, and I dont think ellington will top ten. Kaeperinick will definetly get at least 40 yards

  6. Quite likely. But Gore will still get read-option carries even if they do. Could also be a big game for Kaepernick running the ball on read-option plays.

  7. Hyde was explosive vs Dallas, but I’m guessing Gore will get the most carries and thus yards. Gore was charged with running out the clock, which can affect YPC.

  8. I think the amount of carries will be similar to last week and they will vary the types of run to keep the Bear’s off balance. I think Gore will get more carries and there’s the potential for Hyde to have more yardage due to the stats you posted for running up the middle and Kap to take advantage as well. We know this group of coaches is very loyal to their veterans and pragmatic too with Hyde. How ever they sell it could be a long day for the Bear defense.

  9. I know it’s not prudent to look ahead, but I think it is extremely critical to keep Hyde fresh for the Seattle games and for the playoffs.

    Rookies tend to wear down towards the end of season because they are not used to playing that many games. Managing his carries is critical.

    The addition of Lattimore should help. Lattimore if able to play should receive garbage time carries.

  10. One thing I noticed about Hyde is that he runs with a lean, though the knock on him by many fans was that he runs too upright. I think Aikman mentioned the lean during the last game. I wonder if that is something that Rathman has taught him? It sure reminds me of another running back from the old days, but I can’t quite put by finger on who it was.

  11. really sucks for LMJ…bet he wants the coaches to say negative things about him, that way it can be LMJ vz niner coaches……instead with all the good stuff coaches are saying about him other teams have to wonder why didn’t they keep him, which in a way makes LMJ the one uncoachable.

    1. It’s going to be tough for him to find a job unless injuries occur. Teams have already set their rosters and likely aren’t looking to bring in somebody who doesn’t know the system unless forced to do so.

      If he really did ask for his release, it was a big error in judgment. It’s bad enough that he doesn’t have much on film for teams to look at, but if you get a rep as a bad locker room guy, most teams won’t even look at you. I wish him the best but it’s going to be hard for him going forward.

      1. rocket, Baalke said on the radio that LMJ had not asked to be released. They just decided to cut him. I assume this was triggered by the Ian Rap report and their thinking they had the replacements, so why keep him.

        1. Agent says he asked for his release…..Niners said they released him.

          Makes more sense what Agent is saying….

          Why would the Niners wait till after 1st game to cut him – makes no freaking sense especially since they released the good looking rookie RB…..

          And the whole NFL right now is being run like a government where every small thing is blown out of proportion and the NFL is always trying hide something instead of just saying the truth or doing the right thing….

          Drug tests, suspensions, cheerlearders lawsuit, referees f-ups, fines, fan violence………bunch of dumb stuff….

          There is enough money to resolve all this issues but instead the NFLGREED will always stand in the way.

          1. Oneniner, it makes sense if the Niners believed that LMJ was IR’s source. As for the agent saying LMJ had asked for his release, that’s what he’s paid to do. I don’t really know what the truth is, but I look at it this way: No one claimed LMJ, and there’s no report of anyone showing interest in him. It’s extremely likely his agent would have tested the waters before requesting a release.

      2. All 32 teams are set at the RB position. He won’t get an audition unless all 3 RB’s in a team are injured, and even then I doubt he would get any playing time.

        Even lowly Cleveland knew better than to pick up James. They took Winston in a second, and never looked back. I tells you that the Niners really bungled that move. There is a market for Winston, but not for James.

  12. Bears will spend the week scheming to defend the read option and focusing on assignment integrity. Niners should come out slinging the balls as they did against the Cowboys, take a two- or three-score lead and then run out the second half with Gore. In the process, Hyde should have 8-9 carries at or above 5 ypc average, and Gore will have 15-16 carries at 4 ypc with Duke getting a couple of carries. Niners 31 – Bears 13.

    1. Yep, I expect them to try and establish the pass early again this week. As for carries, I expect a similar split between the backs, with Ellington taking the share of carries LMJ had.

  13. Remember the sweeps in training camp? Didn’t see a single one vs Dallas.

    – Saving sweeps for a specific opponent?
    – Saving sweeps for a specific defensive look?
    – Sweeps were merely experimentation with scheme and won’t be run this year?
    – The sweeps were designed with Kendall Hunter in mind?
    – Will run a ceremonial sweep vs Trestman for old time sake, with Eddie D cheer leading the “No-More-Sweeps” chant?

  14. Honestly, who cares? I just the two-headed bulldozing monster to run the ball right down the throat of the Bears’ defense and for the receiving corps to pick up where they left off against the hapless Cowboys.

    1. I am not worried about the RB’s or WR’s play.

      I’d like to see the O-Line play better better, keep it together and start functioning as a unit. They have tough match ups ahead within the division against Cards, Rams and Seattle.

  15. I wouldn’t discount the possibility that the leading rusher is not a QB; with as much difficulty as the Bears had against the read option last week, I could see Kaepernick having one or more big rushes.

    I’m not necessarily predicting that will happen, but I would not be surprised if Kap gets quite a few yards with his feet.

  16. yah, \yah, gore is still a beast, all of you. He is amoug only 29 people to have rushed for 10,000 yards. And you are all placing bets on a rookie! RUDE.

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