Looking back at the 49ers haul from the first Alex Smith trade

Carlos Hyde

The 49ers’ journey to grab Carlos Hyde is a circuitous route, one that involves three trades that ultimately let them move from No. 56 overall (the original pick) to No. 57. Yep, sometimes the NFL is like that. No matter how they got there, they ended up grabbing the most productive player of the four they got out of the Chiefs picks in running back Carlos Hyde.

Hyde entered the NFL draft as a true bruiser, an Ohio State product with the sort of size and strength and contact balance to punish defenses for four full quarters. If the goal was to take some heat off of Colin Kaepernick, Hyde was the perfect ticket.

Unfortunately, Hyde is just now beginning to round into the sort of form that the Niners envisioned when they drafted him. Frank Gore cast a long shadow during his rookie season, and Hyde finished the next two years on injured reserve. This last year was the first season in which Hyde was healthy enough to play in all 16 games.

His detractors will point to the fact that Hyde has never had a single 1,000 yard rushing season and that he averaged less than 4 yards/carry in 2017. However, Hyde also caught 59 passes last year (up from his previous career high of 27) and he’s still capable of moving the chains as much as ever. For some reason, the Niners have been slow to feature him in true bell cow fashion.