The San Francisco 49ers have acquired running back Brian Robinson Jr. from the Washington Commanders, a move general manager John Lynch discussed during a radio appearance on KNBR Thursday. Although Lynch did not mention the addition in his Wednesday media session, he explained Robinson’s expected impact on the team’s offense.
“I think it’s going to be a big role,” Lynch said. “Brian, it feels like yesterday he was here on a 30-visit. 30-visits are the visits prior to the draft, and Brian was one of the guys who came in here. And so, we’ve long been a fan of Brian.”
The 49ers already feature Christian McCaffrey as their primary running back. The team sees Robinson as an experienced option who will support depth at the position if injuries occur. Lynch stated that San Francisco still has confidence in its younger running backs Isaac Guerendo and rookie Jordan James but felt compelled to add another player due to recent developments.
James missed practice time during training camp because of a broken finger but returned Wednesday.
“Jordan James is a guy we’re extremely high on, but unfortunately got nicked up on a couple different occasions during training camp,” Lynch explained. “And so, the idea of going with a rookie as your No. 2 back going into a season, when he’s barely had practices, that’s a really tough thing to do. And so, we remain high as can be on Jordan James, think he’s going to be a fantastic player for us.”
Lynch indicated that before acquiring Robinson, James was considered McCaffrey’s main backup with Guerendo falling down in priority.
“Isaac Guerendo’s still in the mix, but we felt like it was important to have another back,” Lynch added. “It’s just the way things go at that position, and we feel like there’s some unique things we can do with Brian in there. He’s a great fit for our style of play, and we were very fortunate to have the opportunity to add a player of that [caliber] at that point in training camp.”
With Robinson joining McCaffrey and others on the roster, San Francisco increases its options at running back ahead of the coming season.
